iHar^Ianli 


MADE  BY  THE 

DEPARTMENT  OF  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

OF  THE 


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BOARD  OF  HOME  MISSIONS  OF  THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH 
IN  THE  U.S.  A. 

Warren  H.  Wilson,  Ph.D.,  Superintendent 
Anna  B.  Taft,  Assistant  Superintendent 

1  56  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York  City 


3R  555  .MJ  P7  1912 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the 

U.S.A.  Board  of  Home 
A  rural  survey  in  Maryland 


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^  3^ural  giur^e^  in 


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MADE  BY  THE 

DEPARTMENT  OF  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

OF  THE 

BOARD  OF  HOME  MISSIONS  OF  THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH 
IN  THE  U.  S.  A. 

Warren  H.  Wilson,  Ph.D.,  Superintendent 
Anna  B.  Taft,  Assistant  Superintendent 

1  56  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York  City 

The  Field  Work  in  this  investigation  was  done  by  E.  Fred  Eastman 
and  Hermann  N.  Morse 


a  JHarplanli  ^urtep 


This  report  embodies  the  results  of  a  Sociological  Survey  of  Montgom- 
ery County,  Maryland,  which  was  undertaken  by  this  department  at  the 
instance,  and  conducted  under  the  auspices,  of  The  Montgomery  County 
Country  Life  Committee.  Hence  an  introductory  word  as  to  the  origin 
and  nature  of  this  committee  is  not  out  of  place  here.  In  September, 
1911,  the  Hon.  Willet  M.  Hays,  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  United  States 
Department  of  Agriculture,  invited  53  representative  men  and  women, 
residents  of  Montgomery  County,  to  meet  at  his  home  to  consider  the 
feasibility  of  organizing  a  Country  Life  Federation  for  the  County.  In 
order  that  the  form  of  organization  to  be  adopted  might  be  wrought 
out  with  the  good  of  the  farming  community  as  a  wlwle  for  its  prime 
purpose,  the  choice  of  those  invited  to  attend  was  based  upon  geo- 
graphical distribution,  17  centres  being  recognized  and  three  or  four 
selected  from  each  centre.  As  a  result  of  this  meeting,  which  was  held 
on  September  29,  the  Montgomery  County  Country  Life  Committee  was 
provisionally  organized,  with  the  avowed  aim  of  making  Montgomery 
County  the  Model  Rural  County  of  the  United  States.  In  the  judgement 
of  the  committee,  the  first  necessary  step  toward  this  end,  without 
which  no  other  step  could  well  be  taken,  was  to  determine  the  exact 
present  status  of  affairs  in  the  county.  In  accordance  with  this  idea, 
its  first  official  act  was  to  decide  upon  the  undertaking  of  a  Sociological 
Survey,  with  the  end  in  view  of  obtaining,  as  a  scientific  basis  for  future 
work  of  improvement,  accurate  information  concerning  the  prevailing 
economic,  social,  educational  and  religious  conditions  throughout  the 
county.  The  following  resolution  was  adopted:  "Resolved:  That 
the  Montgomery  County  Country  Life  Committee  invite  the  Presby- 
terian Department  of  Church  and  Country  Life,  and  the  Interstate 
Executive  Committee  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  of  Delaware,  Maryland,  and 
District  of  Columbia,  to  assist  in  making  a  Social  Life  Survey  of  Mont- 
gomery County."  The  Interstate  Y.  M.  C.  A.  was  to  cooperate  by 
raising  funds  to  pay  part  of  the  expenses  of  the  survey.  The  actual 
work  of  investigation  was  undertaken  for  the  Presbyterian  Department 
of  Church  and  Country  Life  by  the  Superintendent,  Dr.  Warren  H. 
Wilson.  The  department  also  met  the  bulk  of  the  expense  and  published 
the  results.  Two  field  investigators,  E.  Fred  Eastman  and  Hermann 
N.  Morse,  were  detailed  for  this  work  which  was  begun  in  January, 
1912,  and  finished  in  April, 

3 


The  Investigators  desire  at  this  point  to  express  their  personal  thanks, 
and  the  thanks  of  the  Department  of  Church  and  Country  Life,  to  all 
those  whose  assistance  and  unfailing  kindness  made  their  work  possible 
of  accomplishment.  Maryland  hosi)itality  is  not  an  over-praised  in- 
stitution, as  they  discovered  to  their  complete  satisfaction. 

In  particular,  they  are  under  obligations  to  the  members  of  the  Country 
Life  Committee,  to  its  founder,  Prof.  Hays,  and  to  its  Secretary,  Mr. 
Earle  B.  Wood,  the  County  Superintendent  of  Schools.  Mr.  Wood's 
assistance,  which  was  important  for  every  branch  of  the  survey,  was  of 
especial  aid  in  making  the  study  of  the  schools  complete  and  accurate. 
Thanks  are  also  due  to  Mr.  A.  C.  Monahan  of  the  United  States  Bureau 
of  Education  for  counsel  and  assistance. 

LOCATION   AND   TOPOGRAPHY 

Foreword 

A  certain  historic  interest  attaches  to  the  county.  It  was  born  with 
the  Republic,  being  formed  out  of  the  "Lower  District  of  Frederick" 
in  1776.  Its  part  in  all  the  wars  the  United  States  has  waged,  including 
the  Revolution,  has  been  an  honorable  one,  and  it  has  also  furnished  its 
share  of  those  who  have  had  charge  of  the  destinies  of  both  nation  and 
state.  The  village  of  Brookeville  was  at  one  time  temporary  Capital 
of  the  United  States.  Citizens  of  Rockville  point  out  an  old  tavern, 
still  standing,  where  George  Washington  was  once  entertained,  and  in 
which  the  first  Court  convened  under  the  Republic  in  the  county  held 
its  sessions. 

Location 

Montgomery  County  has  the  natural  advantage  of  a  location  both 
beautiful  and  economically  convenient.  It  lies  along  the  Potomac 
from  the  District  of  Columbia  to  the  Monococy  River.  The  adjoining 
Maryland  Counties  are  Frederick,  Howard,  and  Prince  George's.  The 
District  of  Columbia  and  Loudon  and  Fairfax  Counties,  Virginia,  form 
the  remainder  of  its  boundary  line.  The  greatest  dimension  of  the 
county  is  from  Harrison's  Island  in  the  Potomac  due  East  to  the  Pautux- 
ent  River  at  the  point  where  Montgomery,  Howard  and  Prince  George's 
Counties  meet,  a  distance  of  about  35  miles;  while  a  line  drawn  from  the 
northernmost  point  of  the  county  due  south  to  Cabin  John  on  the 
Potomac  would  measure  26  miles.  The  total  area  of  the  county  is 
estimated  as  521  square  miles. 

Civil  Divisions 

The  county  is  divided  into  13  minor  civil  divisions  called  Election 
Districts.  These  are,  in  the  order  of  their  numerical  sequence,  Lay- 
tonsville,    Clarksburg,   Poolesville,   Rockville,    Colesville,   Darnestown, 

4 


Bethesda,  Olney,  Gaithersburg,  Potomac,  Barnesville,  Damascus  and 
Wheaton.  The  town  of  Rockville  in  the  Rockville  District  is  the 
County  Seat. 

Topography 

In  general,  the  land  is  high  and  its  surface  is  rolling,  in  some  sections 
quite  hilly.  The  average  height  above  mean  sea  level  for  the  whole 
county  is  approximately  431.5  feet,  the  highest  point  being  in  the  Damas- 
cus District,  822  feet.  The  centres  of  population  are  almost  always  the 
highest  points  in  their  respective  neighborhoods.  Generally  speaking, 
the  towns  are  so  situated  that  the  land  slopes  off  in  every  direction. 
The  following  tables  give  the  average  height  above  mean  sea  level  for 
the  Districts  and  the  elevation  of  the  towns  and  villages  within  the 
Districts. 

Average  Height  Vill^crP        Height  Above 

District  Above  Mean  r  T  w  Mean  Sea 

Sea  Level  Level 

Laytonsville 528.6  ft.       Laytonsville 615  ft. 

Clarksburg 560.      "        Clarksburg 661  " 

Poolesville 319.      ''        Poolesville 390  " 

Martinsburg 413  " 

Rockville 391 .      "       Rockville 451  " 

Colesville 474.6    "       Spencerville .516  " 

Burtonsville .  .  .500  " 

Darnestown 342.9    "       Quince  Orchard 435  " 

Darnestown 400  " 

Bethesda 282.2    "        Chevy  Chase 300  " 

Olney 449.      "       Olney 544  " 

Sandy  Spring 500  " 

Gaithersburg 429 . 1    "        Gaithersburg 508  " 

Germantown 475  " 

Potomac 329.6    "       Potomac 364  " 

Barnesville 475.       "        Barnesville 575  " 

Boyds 400  " 

Damascus 665.5    "       Damascus 787  " 

Wheaton 342.9    "       Wheaton 459  " 

As  is  usually  the  case  with  rolling,  partially- wooded  land,  the  country 
has  much  picturesque  scenery.  Almost  every  hill-top  is  a  vantage  point 
for  the  viewing  of  rich  and  varied  country.  In  every  direction  it  is 
dissected  by  creeks  and  runs,  none  of  very  startling  proportions,  but  all, 
from  the  great  Seneca  (the  only  one  dignified  by  the  name  '  river ')  down 
to  the  tiniest  brook,  adding  to  the  beauty  of  the  scene.  For  35  miles  of 
its  length,  the  Potomac  lies  within  the  bounds  of  the  county,  whose 
limits  include  both  banks,  while  the  Pautuxent  River  marks  the  entire 
length  of  the  line  between  Montgomery  and  Howard  Counties.  The 
Great  Falls  of  the  Potomac,  considered  one  of  the  largest  available 

5 


REFLECTIONS 


water  powers  in  the  world,  which  could  supply  the  City  of  Washington, 
are  no  less  remarkable  for  their  beauty  than  for  their  commercial  value. 
The  Cabin  John  Bridge  over  a  stream  leading  into  the  Potomac  is 
the  second  longest  single  span  bridge  in  the  world  and  is  a  noteworthy 
sight.  Throughout  much  of  the  county,  the  combination  of  profitable 
farming  and  a  generally  high  level  of  culture  and  education  among  the 
farmers  has  made  for  a  county  of  attractive  homes  and  well-kept  farms 
where  beauty  is  not  neglected  in  the  struggle  for  utility. 


ECONOMIC    CONDITIONS 
Foreword 

Montgomery    County   has    always   been   primarily    an    agricultural 

County.     From  the  day  of  its  first  settlers  until  now  its  wealth  has  been 

drawn  from  its  soil.     Of  late  new  forces  have  begun  to  operate.     The 

Suburbanite  has  come  into  certain  sections,  has  set  a  new,  and  from  the 

farmer's  point  of  view,  a  fictitious  value  on  the  land,  and  large  areas 

have  been  turned  over  to  him  for  his  home,  his  club  house  and  his  park. 

This  'suburbanizing'  process  will  go  on,  but  it  will  be  limited  in  its 

extent.     In  the  future  as  in  the  past,  the  prosperity  of  the  county  over 

at  least  two  thirds  of  its  area  must  depend  upon  the  success  of  its  farming 

operations. 

6 


When  the  soil  of  the  county  was  virgin  its  staple  products  were  corn 
and  tobacco  and  the  yield  was  abundant.  After  the  fashion  of  pioneer 
farming,  the  land  was  repeatedly  sown  to  these  profitable  crops  until  the 
strength  of  what  was  naturally  rather  rich  soil  was  exhausted.  Nothing 
was  ever  given  back  to  the  land  and  farming  suffered.  Toward  the 
beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century,  emigration  to  the  newer  lands  of 
the  West  and  South  set  in,  as  the  direct  result  of  an  agricultural  system 
which  could  no  longer  get  enough  from  the  soil  to  support  its  population. 
This  increasing  economic  pressure  marked  the  passing  of  the  day  of  "  the 
old  tobacco  planters,  with  their  baronial  estates  and  armies  of  slaves. 
They  (what  time  they  flourished),  felled  the  native  forests  and  planted 
the  virgin  soil  in  tobacco  and  Indian  corn.  They  did  very  well  so  long 
as  there  was  timber  for  the  ax  and  new  land  for  the  hoe;  and  these  old 
lords  of  the  manor  were  happy.  They  feasted  and  frolicked  and  fox- 
hunted and  made  the  most  of  life.  Those  days  were  known  as  'the 
good  old  times.' 

In  less  than  a  century  after  this  system  of  denuding  and  exhaustion 
began  there  were  no  more  forests  to  clear  and  no  more  new  land  to  till. 
Then  succeeded  the  period  of  old  fields,  decaying  worm  fences  and 
mouldering  homesteads.  This  sad  condition  of  the  county  had  reached 
its  climax  about  the  year  1840.  .  .  .  The  land  would  no  longer  yield  an 
increase,  and  they  made  no  attempt  at  renovating  and  improving  the 
soil,  and  Montgomery  lands  became  a  synonym  for  poverty."* 

The  population,  over  the  first  four  decades  of  the  last  century,  showed 
a  net  decrease  of  more  than  14%.  Land  values  decreased,  in  some 
cases  almost  to  the  vanishing  point,  and  the  fortunes  of  the  county  were 
at  low  ebb.  As  one  instance  of  this  condition,  in  the  early  forties  a 
large  tract  of  land  in  the  Sandy  Spring  neighborhood  (a  tract  now 
occupied  by  fine  farms)  was  sold  at  ^2.05  an  acre,  and  the  opinion  was 
expressed  that  this  was  ^2.04  too  high.  In  the  first  experiment  with 
wheat  on  this  land,  its  new  owner  sowed  8  bushels  in  a  certain  field 
and  reaped  but  5.  It  was  in  this  neighborhood,  among  the  society  of 
Friends,  that  this  characteristically  pioneer  method  of  farming  was  first 
abandoned.  In  1845,  the  man  above  referred  to,  sowed  Peruvian  Guano 
with  his  wheat,  and  marked  improvements  were  at  once  seen  to  follow 
its  use,  which  soon  became  general.  With  the  continued  employment  of 
this  and  other  commercial  fertilizers  and  with  a  change  to  rotative  crop- 
ping the  fertility  of  the  soil  returned,  and  with  it  came  population  and 
prosperity.  During  the  second  four  decades  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
the  population  made  a  net  increase  of  about  55%.  The  progress  of 
the  county  has  thus  depended  upon  its  success  in  making  its  farms 
productive. 


♦Boyd's  History,  107,  108. 


ECONOMIC    RESOURCES 
(a)  Natural  Resources 

Mineral:  There  are  only  two  mineral  resources  to  be  mentioned^ 
gold  and  building  stone.  Neither  of  these  is  at  present  of  very  great 
commercial  importance.  It  has  long  been  a  tradition  in  many  parts  of 
the  county  that  gold  was  to  be  found  there.  In  several  localities  there 
has  been  some  prospecting.  In  all  but  one  instance  this  has  come  to 
nothing.  The  Sandy  Spring  Annalist,  speaking  for  that  neighborhood, 
expresses  the  situation  for  most  of  the  county,  when  she  writes  of  "the 
ine\'itable  three  degrees  of  mining  speculation  in  this  vicinity — positive, 
mine;  comparative,  minor;  superlative,  minus."  In  the  Potomac  Dis- 
trict, however,  gold-mining  has  been  somewhat  more  profitable.  Here 
there  are  two  gold-mines  not  far  from  the  Great  Falls  of  the  Potomac 
River  which  have  been  worked  intermittently  since  1887.  From  ^40,000 
to  ^50,000  worth  of  gold  is  said  to  have  been  taken  from  them  to  date. 
A  report  on  this  property  by  a  geological  expert  states  that  "at  the 
present  time  the  property  is  still  in  the  prospective  stage  as  the  develop- 
ment work  so  far  performed  is  confined  to  the  surface.  The  work  done 
on  the  main  vain  has  demonstrated  satisfactory  gold  values  in  several 
places.     .     .     .     There  is  no  geological  reason  w^hy  gold  should  not  be 


I  A KM    UAKN 


here."  Work  on  the  mines  is  now  being  carried  on,  and  the  company 
owning  the  property  announces  extensive  work  of  improvement  and 
development  for  the  near  future. 

Marketable  stone  is  found  in  at  least  five  districts  of  the  county — 
Potomac,  Darnestown,  Gaithersburg,  Poolesville  and  Barnesville. 
There  are  quarries  of  some  little  importance  at  Seneca,  Gaithersburg  and 
Dickerson.  Much  of  this  stone  has  value  for  building  purposes.  A 
considerable  amount  has  been  shipped  from  the  Seneca  quarries  and 
many  buildings  in  Washington  City  including  The  Smithsonian  Insti- 
tute and  The  Georgetown  College  are  made  of  this  stone.  These  quarries 
are  now  becoming  exhausted.  The  Potomac  and  Poolesville  stone  has 
commercial  value  but  is  not  very  extensively  marketed.  The  Gaithers- 
burg quarry  is  small,  but  turns  out  a  good  quality  of  stone.  The  quarry 
at  Dickerson  produces  and  ships  in  considerable  quantities  a  very  hard, 
durable  stone  used  chiefly  for  roadtopping. 

Vegetable:  For  the  county  as  a  whole,  the  soil  is  chiefly  adapted  to 
the  raising  of  corn,  wheat  and  forage  crops.  In  certain  districts,  these 
staples  are  supplemented  by  oats,  rye,  tobacco,  potatoes,  garden 
vegetables,  small  fruits  and  apples. 

Other:  There  is  a  great  deal  of  clay  in  the  county  which  apparently 
could  be  profitably  used  for  brick  making.  But  little  use  is  made  of  it 
for  this  purpose ;  less  now,  perhaps,  than  formerly. 

(b)  Developed  Resources 

Farming  Industry:  The  farm  is  the  county's  great  wealth  producer. 
A  large  proportion  of  the  money  invested  is  invested  in  farm  lands  and 
property.  Over  90%  of  the  population  get  their  living  directly  or  in- 
directly from  the  soil. 

Other  Productive  Agencies:  Montgomery  is  not  to  any  considerable 
extent  a  manufacturing  county.  There  are,  however,  a  canning  factory, 
a  rope  factory,  a  carriage  factory,  and  several  marble  and  granite  works. 
A  dozen  or  more  grist  mills,  equipped  variously  with  water,  steam  and 
electric  power,  furnish  a  local  market  for  a  limited  amount  of  grain. 

THE   BUSINESS   OF   FARMING 
(a)  Assets 

(1)  The  total  land  area  of  the  county  is  approximately  333,440  acres. 
82%  of  this,  or  273,270  acres,  is  in  farms.  In  1900  the  area  in  farms 
was  about  10,000  acres  greater.  76.5%  of  the  farm  land  or  209,153 
acres  is  improved.  Of  the  remaining  64,117  acres,  59,409  acres  are 
in  woodland,  leaving  only  4,708  acres  neither  wooded  nor  improved. 

(2)  Value:  The  total  value  of  all  farm  property  is  about  ^21,000,000 
an  increase  of  over  38%  in  ten  years.  Table  No.  1,  (Appendix,  page  I), 
from  the  1910  United  States  Census  shows  how  this  value  is  distributed. 


The  average  value  of  land  per  acre  for  the  total  farming  area  of  the 
county  is  ^46.39,  as  against  ^33.48  in  1900,  an  increase  of  38.3%.  This 
increase,  however,  varies  greatly  in  different  sections,  and  so  does  the 
present  value.  The  land  which  is  still  farmed  within  the  sections  now 
enjoying  extensive  suburban  development  (a  question  which  will  be  taken 
up  later)  has  for  the  most  part  by  that  fact  received  an  increase  in  market 
value  all  out  of  proportion  to  its  value  for  farming  purposes.  Location, 
rather  than  intrinsic  value  has  been  in  all  cases  the  determining  factor. 
Much  of  the  land  adjacent  to  the  Railroad,  even  in  the  upper  end  of  the 
county  where  the  development  has  been  slower,  has  increased  in  value 
50  to  80%.  This  is  true  also  of  land  adjacent  to  the  newer  pikes,  where 
the  increase  has  often  been  rapid.  In  parts  of  the  county  less  favorably 
situated  the  increase  has  been  proportionately  small.  Damascus  District 
and  parts  of  the  Bamesville  and  Clarksburg  Districts  are  examples  cf 
this.  In  general,  farm  land  has  proven  a  good  investment.  Not  much 
of  it  is  for  sale.  When  offered,  it  usually  finds  a  ready  purchaser.  More- 
over, with  the  increased  facilities  of  transportation  that  will  surely 
come,  with  the  improved  methods  of  farming  which  every  decade  brings, 
and  with  the  steady  development  of  the  available  markets,  it  is  reason- 
able to  expect  that  the  value  of  farm  land  will  continue  to  increase. 
There  has  been  no  very  marked  tendency  to  speculate  in  farm  lands 
for  farming  purposes.  The  farm  is  usually  regarded  as  a  home  rather 
than  as  an  investment.  What  speculation  there  has  been  has  had  an 
eye  to  possible  suburban  development. 

(3)  How  the  Land  is  Held.  There  are  in  all  2,432  farms  in  the  county, 
of  which  2,093  or  85.7%  are  operated  by  white  farmers  and  349  or  14.3% 
are  operated  by  colored  farmers.  Of  those  operated  by  white  farmers, 
2,042  are  operated  by  native-born,  and  51  by  foreign-born  whites.  At 
present  the  average  size  of  the  farms  is  about  112  acres,  but  they  are 
tending  to  become  smaller.  In  1900  with  10,000  acres  more  in  farms, 
there  were  357  fewer  farmers,  making  the  average  size  of  the  farms  at 
that  time  136  acres.  Apparently,  the  increased  value  of  the  land,  and 
the  ever  increasing  diflficulty  of  obtaining  good  farm  labor  are  not  only 
causing  the  breaking  up  of  the  very  large  farms,  but  are  also  considerably 
increasing  the  number  of  very  small  farms.  Then  too,  there  is  a  greater 
amount  of  truck  farming,  which  does  not  require  as  much  land  for  pro- 
fitable operation  as  general  farming.  Thirty-nine  per  cent,  of  all  the 
farms  have  less  than  50  acres  each.  The  farms  operated  by  colored 
farmers  are  on  the  whole  much  smaller  than  those  operated  by  the  white. 
69.3%  of  all  colored  farmers  have  19  acres  or  less.  (See  Diagram  No.  1 
on  opposite  page  and  Table  No.  2,  Appendix,  page  I). 

The  study  of  the  kind  of  tenure  reveals  some  rather  significant 
facts;   (See    Table  No.   3,  Appendix,  page  I,)    75.4%    of    all  farms 

10 


are  operated  by  those  who  own  the  land  in  whole  or  in  part. 
21.4%  are  operated  by  tenants.  This  is  an  increase  of  .5%  in  the 
amount  of  tenantry  during  ten  years,  and  of  6.2%  since  1890; 
a  small  degree  of  change  to  be  sure,  but  a  change  in  the  wrong  direction. 
In  at  least  two  districts,  Laytonsville  and  Potomac,  the  amount  of  tenan- 
try has  been  increased  appreciably  during  five  or  six  years,  and  has 
meant  a  poorer  and  less  profitable  grade  of  farming,  and  a  gradual  ap- 
preciation of  the  soil.  On  the  face  of  the  returns,  the  per  cent,  of  farms 
operated  by  owners,  75.4%,  seems  like  a  fair  proportion.  These  farms, 
however,  only  represent  55%  of  the  total  acreage  of  farm  land,  and  the  same 
per  cent,  of  the  total  value  of  farm  property.  That  is  to  say,  a  much  greater 
proportion  of  the  small  farms  are  operated  by  their  owners  than  of  the 
large  ones.  Of  the  farms  of  19  acres  or  less,  88.6%  are  operated  by 
owners;  of  those  of  19-99  acres,  74.5%  are  so  operated;  of  those  of 
100-259  acres,  60.3%;  of  those  of  more  than  259  acres,  51.8%.  Speak- 
ing broadly,  it  is  common  experience  that  under  a  system  of  tenantry 
the  land  is  usually  not  so  well  farmed  as  when  operated  by  its  owners. 
The  tenant  usually  has  but  a  short  lease  on  the  land ;  inferior  methods  of 
farming  are  apt  to  be  employed;  the  needs  of  the  soil  are  not  so  carefully 
studied  or  attended  to;  there  is  generally  a  smaller  working  capital;  the 
cost  of  operation  is  somewhat  greater.  In  consequence,  the  property 
is  not  kept  up ;  the  fertility  of  the  soil  is  seldom  increased  or  even  main- 


/J-r^sj          io-j'f  fo-lf        /oa-t79-       nS-ZS'i     Uo-fit     Soo- tif  ajzi^e^"     "   ' 

DIAGRAM  NO.  I — HOW  THE  LANDtS   HELD  BY  SIZE  OF  FARMS 
11 


tained;  and  in  the  long  run,  the  net  income  is  smaller.  To  have  45% 
of  the  land  operated  under  a  tenant  system  and  to  have  that  system  on 
the  increase,  would  then  seem  to  present  a  problem  worthy  of  considera- 
tion. The  obvious  solution  would  be  along  the  line  of  aiding  the  present 
operators  to  obtain  the  ownership  of  the  land.  In  Europe  and  to  a 
lesser  extent  in  some  parts  of  the  United  States  this  need  is  met  by  an 
ably  managed  and  extensive  system  of  cooperative  banking. 

Another  interesting  angle  of  this  question  has  to  do  with  the  length 
of  tenure.  The  average  length  of  tenure  for  all  farms  is  12.4  years. 
But  more  than  half  of  the  farms  and  considerably  more  than  half  of  the  total 
acreage  of  farm  lands,  have  changed  hands  at  least  once  during  the  last  ten 
years.  This  means  an  unstable  element  in  the  population  large  enough 
to  cause  concern.  For  all  owned  land,  the  average  term  of  occupancy 
is  15  years,  but  for  land  operated  by  tenants,  the  average  term  of  occu- 
pancy is  only  4  years.  One  fourth  of  the  entire  farming  population,  then, 
is  shifting,  a  fact  which  must  necessarily  hamper  all  efforts  toward  the 
betterment  of  rural  life  conditions  along  social,  religious  and  educational 
lines. 

Sixty-two  per  cent,  of  all  farms  operated  by  their  owners  are  held 
free  of  mortgage  debt.  A  slightly  larger  per  cent,  of  white  farmers  than 
of  colored  farmers  carry  a  mortgage  debt,  a  fact  more  than  offset  by  the 
greater  size  and  better  equipment  of  the  farms  of  the  white  farmers. 
The  amount  of  the  mortgage  debt  where  reported  was  about  32%  of 
the  total  value  of  the  land  and  buildings.  The  age  of  the  farmers  is  of 
interest  in  this  connection.  Table  No.  4,  (Appendix,  page  I),  shows 
the  number  of  farmers,  white  and  colored,  coming  within  the  different 
age  groups. 

Diagrams  Nos.  II  and  III,  show  the  proportion  of  the  farmers  within 
each  age  group  who  are  farm  owners,  with  or  without  mortgage  indebt- 
edness, or  tenants.  For  the  white  farmers,  certain  things  should  be 
noticed  as  follows:  the  proportion  of  farmers  in  each  given  age-group 
who  own  farms  without  mortgage  indebtedness  increases  as  the  age  in- 
creases, so  that  while  only  12%  of  those  under  24  years  of  age  have  un- 
mortgaged farms,  in  the  four  following  age  groups  the  per-cents.  are 
respectively  19.4,  32.7,  48  and  58,  and  of  all  those  over  64  years  of  age, 
67%  come  within  this  class.  The  proportion  of  each  age-group  who 
own  farms  with  mortgage  indebtedness  increases  through  the  first  three 
groups,  and  then  decreases  through  the  succeeding  groups,  the  highest 
proportion  being  in  the  group  35-44  years  of  age,  31%  of  these  coming 
within  this  class.  Lastly  the  proportion  of  each  age  gioup  who  are  ten- 
ants decreases  rapidly  through  the  successive  groups;  64%  of  all  farmers 
under  25  years  of  age  are  tenants,  the  i)cr-cents.  in  the  four  following 
groups  are  respectively  44,  24,  13,  12,  while  all  over  64  years  of  age  only 

12 


DIAGRAM  NO.  II 


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DIAGRAM  NO.   Ill 
HOW  THE  LAND  IS  HELD   BY  AGE  OF  FARMERS  AND   KIND  OF  TENURE 


13 


7%  are  tenants.  For  the  colored  farmers,  the  most  important  difference 
is  that  shown  by  the  Hne  indicating  the  proportion  who  own  farms  with 
mortgage^indebtedness;  it  will  be  noticed  that  the  per-cent.  for  the  last 
group  (65  years  and  over)  is  greater  than  for  any  of  the  preceding  groups. 
The  proportion  of  tenantry  here,  as  with  the  white  farmers  decreases  as 
the  age  increases. 

The  inferences  from  these  figures  are:  that  there  is  a  constant  tendency 
for  tenant  farmers  to  acquire  ownership  in  land;  that  this  is  accomplished 
by  means  of  borrowed  capital,  a  mortgage  being  given  as  security;  that 
a  large  proportion  of  the  white  farmers  are  able  to  pay  off  this  indebted- 
ness; and  that  the  colored  farmers  secure  their  land  later  in  life  and  are 
less  able  to  free  themselves  from  debt. 

(4)  How  the  Farms  are  Stocked.  Two  thousand  three  hundred  and  one 
farms  reported  domestic  animals  with  a  total  valuation  of  ^2,163,518 
(1910  United  States  Census,  Table  No.  5,  Appendix,  page  II).  In  1890, 
all  holdings  in  domestic  animals  and  poultry  were  valued  at  ^1,249,790. 
From  1890-1910,  there  was  a  decided  increase  in  the  number  of  horses, 
dairy  cows,  and  sheep  on  the  farms,  but  a  decrease  in  the  number  of 
beef  cattle,  swine  and  poultry. 

There  are  many  fine  draft  horses  in  the  county.  Twenty-five  years 
or  more  ago  a  number  of  Percheron  Stallions  were  imported,  and  since 
that  time  there  has  been  considerable  up-grading  in  all  parts  of  the 
county,  with  the  result  that  at  present  one  can  see  almost  any  number 
of  splendid,  heavy  four  or  six  horse  teams.  Good  driving  horses  are 
much  scarcer,  as  but  little  attention  has  been  paid  to  the  breeding  of 
roadsters. 

(b)  Output 

(1)  General  Farming.  The  crops  showing  the  largest  acreage  and 
yield  are  corn,  wheat,  hay  and  forage.  (1910  census,  Table  No.  6, 
Appendix,  page  II.) 

The  census  crop  reports  for  1890  and  1900  show  that  there  has  been 
an  appreciable  increase  in  the  production  of  all  staple  crops  with  the 
exception  of  hay  and  forage. 
■  The  money  crops,  vary  somewhat  in  the  different  districts.  Wheat 
and  hay  are  money  crops  throughout  the  county.  In  the  Laytonsville, 
Gaithersburg,  and  Wheaton  districts,  and  in  parts  of  Olney  and  Coles- 
ville,  most  of  the  corn  raised  is  fed.  Through  the  remainder  of  the 
county,  corn  is  a  money  crop.  In  Colesville,  Wheaton  and  Olney,  and 
to  a  less  extent  in  Laytonsville,  potatoes  are  an  important  crop.  Some 
rye  is  raised  in  Clarksburg,  and  oats  in  Damascus.  In  Poolesville  and 
Damascus,  straw  is  a  source  of  income.  In  Damascus,  the  chief  money 
crop  is  tobacco;  in  Clarksburg,  20%  of  the  farms,  mostly  toward  the 

14 


Damascus  line,  raise  tobacco.  The  average  yield  on  these  products 
for  all  land  sown  is  fairly  constant  throughout  all  the  county.  For  the 
ordinarily  good  land,  this  would  run  about  18  to  30  bushels  for  wheat, 
150  bushels  for  potatoes,  10  to  14  barrels  of  corn,  1}4  tons  of  hay,  1,200 
to  1,300  pounds  for  burley  tobacco,  and  700  pounds  for  all  other  tobacco. 
The  average  for  the  entire  county,  including  as  it  must,  all  the  poor  land 
planted,  is  not  so  high. 

(2)  Specialized  Farming:  Stock  Feeding.  In  five  districts,  viz.,  Clarks- 
burg, Rockville,  Colesville,  Potomac  and  Bethesda,  there  is  little  or  no 
stock  feeding.  Through  the  remainder  of  the  county  it  is  a  more  or  less 
important  industry.  Laytonsville,  Gaithersburg  and  Olney  lead  in 
this  respect.  Sixty  or  seventy  car  loads  of  stock  are  shipped  into  the 
the  town  of  Gaithersburg  yearly,  and  are  bought  up  by  the  farmers  living 
within  seven  or  eight  miles,  averaging  about  15  or  18  head  to  the  farm, 
90%  of  the  farms  within  that  radius  sharing  in  the  distribution.  In  the 
Olney  district,  75%  feed  10  to  20  head.  In  Poolesville,  25%  feed  10  to 
15  head.  In  Damestown  and  Barnesville,  10%  feed  stock.  In  Damas- 
cus, many  feed  a  little,  but  it  is  not  an  extensive  industry;  so  also  in 
Wheaton. 

Breeding.  In  no  part  of  the  county,  is  stock  breeding  carried  on  to 
any  considerable  extent.  Only  three  exclusively  stock  farms  were  found. 
Otherwise,  most  of  the  breeding  done  is  for  home  use,  to  keep  up  the 
dairy  herds  or  replenish  the  string  of  draft  horses,  and  not  for  market. 
In  Laytonsville,  probably  60%  of  the  farms  breed  horses  and  sheep  to  a 
limited  extent.  In  Poolesville,  there  is  some  general  up-grading  of  cattle, 
mostly  Durham  or  Hereford.  Through  the  rest  of  the  county,  there  is 
little  or  no  breeding  except  as  indicated  above. 

Dairying.  In  the  eastern  and  southern  ends  of  the  county,  and  along 
the  entire  length  of  the  B.  &  O.  Railroad  dairying  is  an  important  in- 
dustry. There  are  at  present,  from  ten  to  twelve  thousand  dairy  cows 
in  the  county.  During  the  last  two  or  three  years,  the  tuberculine  test 
has  been  administered  to  all  herds  whose  milk  is  shipped  to  the  District 
of  Columbia  (and  practically  all  the  milk  is  shipped  there.)  The  method 
of  administering  the  test  has  been  considered  by  many  dairymen  very 
unfair,  and  decidedly  unsatisfactory.  Many  cows  have  been  condemned, 
and  the  farmers  have  received  no  compensation  for  their  loss.  In  con- 
sequence, the  dairy  business  in  some  sections  is  not  as  prosperous  and 
thriving  as  it  was.  It  still  remains,  however,  a  very  important  source 
of  income  for  the  county.  The  districts  doing  little  or  no  dairying  are 
Darnestown,  Poolesville  and  Damascus,  though  in  each  of  the  first  two 
named  there  are  a  few  farms  running  dairies  on  a  small  scale.  The 
sections  most  important  in  this  connection  are  as  follows:  the  parts  of 
Barnesville,    Clarksburg,    Gaithersburg,    Laytonsville,    and    Rockville 

15 


WHERE  TRAVEL  IS  EASY 


which  are  within  three  miles  of  the  railroad ;  here  probably  50%  of  the 
farmers  are  engaged  in  dairying  to  some  extent;  also  the  part  of  Olney 
known  as  the  Sandy  Spring  neighborhood,  two-thirds  of  Colesville,  and 
Wheaton  below  Lay  Hill;  here  a  large  proportion  of  the  farmers  count 
this  one  of  their  chief  sources  of  income.  The  number  of  exclusively 
dairy  farms  is  relatively  small.  In  the  larger  number  of  cases,  the 
dairying  is  done  in  connection  with  general  farming,  though  many 
make  it  their  speciality. 

Fruit  Raising.  The  county  is  well  adapted  to  the  raising  of  fruit, 
particularly  apples,  but  this  is  still  an  industry  of  the  future.  Peaches 
are  raised  very  little,  the  "yellows"  having  proven  troublesome.  In  the 
vicinity  of  Sandy  Spring,  many  apple  orchards  have  been  set  out  within 
the  last  few  years,  and  interest  in  this  branch  of  farming  is  growing 
rapidly.  In  Rockville  district,  there  is  one  large  fruit  farm  and  a  half- 
dozen  other  farms  have  each  from  4  to  10  acres  of  trees.  In  certain 
other  sections,  notably  Gaithersburg  district,  there  are  a  number  of 
young  apple  orchards.  Through  the  rest  of  the  county,  little  fruit 
is  raised  except  for  home  consumption. 

Small  Farming.  In  certain  sections  adjacent  to  the  railroad  (viz. 
parts  of  Clarksburg,  Barnesville,  Gaithersburg  and  Darnestown),  in  the 

16 


lower  and  eastern  parts  of  Colesville,  in  Bethesda,  Potomac,  and  the 
lower  part  of  Wheaton,  there  is  considerable  market  gardening  for  the 
Washington  market.  Colesville  ships  a  considerable  quantity  of  berries 
In  Wheaton,  Colesville,  and  Damascus,  and  to  some  extent  in  other 
sections,  eggs  are  an  important  product. 

(c)  Farm  Expenses 

(1)  The  census,  on  the  basis  of  a  limited  number  of  farms,  estimates 
the  average  annual  expenditures  per  farm  as  follows:  cash  for  labor, 
^279,  rent  and  board  furnished,  ^103,  feed,  ^136,  fertilizer,  ^124.  (See 
Table  No.  7,  Appendix,  page  II.) 

(2)  Labor.  The  wage  for  day  labor  varies  from  75  cents  and  board 
to  ^1.50,  the  average  being  about  ^1.00.  Month  labor  costs  from  ^12.00 
with  house  and  allowance  to  ^30.00,  the  average  being  about  ^18.00. 
Everywhere  the  same  complaint  is  made,  that  it  is  hard  to  get  sufficient 
labor,  and  that  what  can  be  had  is  for  the  most  part  very  poor.  There  is 
not  much  white  labor  in  the  county.  Potomac,  Barnesville  and  Wheaton 
Districts  report  a  fair  proportion  of  white  labor.  Through  the  rest  of  the 
county  it  is  mostly  colored. 

The  laborer  here  appears  to  have  but  little  opportunity  to  better  his 
condition.  In  the  upper  end  of  the  county,  a  number  are  reported  to 
have  acquired  farms  during  the  last  ten  years,  but  this  is  far  from  the 
rule.  Generally  speaking,  their  prospects  of  economic  advancement  are 
almost  nil.  Their  usual  treatment  from  their  employers  is  that  of  in- 
feriors with  good  care.  An  exception  is  made  in  certain  districts,  nota- 
bly Darnestown,  Potomac,  Barnesville  and  Damascus,  in  the  case  of 
the  white  laborer,  who  is  often  accepted  as  an  equal  by  his  employer. 

(d)  Farm  Methods 

(1)  Rotation  of  Crops.  The  usual  rotation  practised  throughout  the 
county  is  a  five  field  rotation,  and  consists  of,  first  year,  corn;  second  and 
third  years,  wheat;  fourth  and  fifth  years,  grass.  This  seems  to  be  the 
rotation  best  adapted  to  the  prevailing  conditions.  The  commonest 
method  is  to  plant  corn,  then  sow  wheat  in  the  stubble,  then  fallow  the 
ground  and  sow  to  wheat  again,  then  sow  to  grass  for  two  years  (three 
sometimes  if  a  good  set  is  not  obtained  in  two).  This  rotation  is  varied 
somewhat  where  there  are  special  circumstances  to  be  considered,  as  in 
the  tobacco  sections,  or  where  dairying  is  chiefly  engaged  in.  But  the 
greater  part  of  the  farmers  adhere  to  something  like  this  procedure,  and 
the  results  seem  to  be  quite  satisfactory. 

(2)  Farm  Machinery.  In  general  the  farms  may  be  said  to  be  equipped 
wifh  all  the  best  modern  machinery  which  can  be  used  to  advantage 
on  medium  or  small  sized  farms  under  the  prevailing  conditions  (such  as 

17 


hilly  or  rolling  land,  or  stony  ground).  To  be  sure,  most  of  the  farmers 
still  walk  behind  their  cultivators  and  their  ])lo\vs;  but  modern  reapers, 
drills,  potato  planters,  tedders,  hay  loaders,  etc.,  are  widely  employed. 
The  binders,  drills  and  wagons  are  practically  always  housed  when  not 
in  use,  and  over  the  whole  county,  probably  75  to  90%  of  all  other 
machinery  is  similarly  cared  for.  On  the  farms  operated  by  tenants 
the  cjuality  of  the  machinery  is  not  usually  as  high  as  on  the  other  farms, 
and  not  quite  such  good  care  is  taken  of  it. 

(3)  The  Use  of  Fertilizer.  It  is  literally  true  that  the  county  owes  its 
present  prosperity  to  the  widespread  use  of  fertilizers.  There  are  few 
farms  that  over  any  length  of  time  could  produce  even  half  crops  without 
fertilizing.  All  fertilize  for  wheat,  usually  400  to  GOO  pounds  to  the 
acre,  and  also  for  tobacco,  about  the  same  amount.  Perhaps  75%  fer- 
tilize for  potatoes,  while  a  comparatively  small  proportion  fertilize  for 
corn  and  grass,  the  amount  used  in  these  cases  varying.  Speaking  for 
the  county  as  a  whole  it  is  necessary  to  lime  very  heavily,  but  the  soil  of 
the  county  is  so  varied  that  the  particular  fertilizer  ingredients  required 
differ  in  different  districts.  The  extensive  stock-feeding  and  dairying 
of  some  sections  make  the  use  of  commercial  fertilizers  less  necessary  in 
those  parts. 

(4)  Drainage.  The  land  does  not  require  a  great  deal  of  artificial 
drainage.  Where  drainage  is  rec^uired,  it  is  usually  accomplished  by  pole 
and  stone  or  blind  ditch.  In  Poolesville,  Rockville,  and  Wheaton  dis- 
tricts a  considerable  amount  of  tile  is  used. 

Montgomery,  Compared  with  Other  Counties  in  Maryland 

In  Montgomery  County  we  have  said  that  75.4%  of  the  farms  were 
operated  by  their  owners  and  called  attention  to  the  misfortune  of  having 
one  fourth  of  the  farms  operated  by  tenants.  However,  the  showing  of 
the  county  in  this  respect  is  better  than  the  showing  of  the  state  as  a 
whole.  The  per  cent,  of  the  farms  operated  by  owners  for  the  entire  state 
is  68.5.  Only  five  counties  have  a  larger  proportion  of  their  farms  so 
operated  than  Montgomery  County. 

In  Montgomery  County,  82%  of  the  land  area  is  in  farms,  75.6% 
of  the  farm  land  is  improved  and  the  farms  average  111.9  acres  to  the 
farm.  For  the  entire  state,  79.5%  of  the  land  area  is  in  farms,  66.3% 
of  the  farm  land  is  improved  and  the  farms  average  103.4  acres  to  the 
farm.  In  Montgomery  County  the  total  average  value  of  each  farm 
is  ^8,542,  and  the  average  value  of  the  land  is  ^46.39  per  acre.  For  the 
entire  state,  the  average  value  of  a  farm  is  ^5,849  and  the  average  value 
per  acre  is  ^32.32. 

(5)  Miscellaneous.  In  their  general  appearance  the  farms  are  usually 
very  attractive.     The  county  is  characterized  by  neat  farming.     There 

18 


is  often  considerable  difference  between  the  farms  of  the  white  and  the 
colored  farmers  at  this  point;  but  of  the  majority  of  the  farms  it  is  true 
that  the  fields  are  well  kept,  the  fences  are  in  good  repair,  the  farm 
buildings  are  ample  in  size  and  well  put  up,  and  the  whole  impression 
is  that  of  good  farm-keeping.  The  small  negro  settlements,  the  tenant 
houses,  and  the  cross-road  stores  seldom  contribute  very  materially 
to  the  beauty  of  the  scene,  but  there  is  some  compensation  in  the  con- 
trasts afforded. 

In  at  least  one  respect,  the  county  seems  prodigal.  The  investigators 
came  from  that  part  of  the  world  where  farmers  consider  two  horses  a 
team  able  to  haul  almost  anything  that  you  ought  to  load  on  a  wagon. 
It  was  an  inspiring  sight  to  them  on  almost  every  drive  through  the 
country  to  meet  numbers  of  four  and  six  horse  teams,  great,  powerful- 
looking  horses,  hauling  anything  from  a  half-dozen  sacks  of  wheat  to 
large  loads  of  grain  or  hay.  Certainly  it  can  not  be  said  that  the  horses 
are  overworked. 

(e)  Cooperative  Tendencies  in  Farming 

One  of  the  most  obvious  criticisms  of  rural  life  is  its  voluntary  isola- 
tion, and  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  anything  like  cooperation  among 


THE   SIX-HORSE   HITCH 

19 


the  farmers  in  the  matters  which  most  vitally  concern  them.  Very  few 
rural  communities  can  be  said  to  be  adequately  organized.  In  Mont- 
gomery County  the  first  steps  have  been  taken  toward  this  adequate 
organization.  It  is  not  our  present  purpose  to  discuss  the  social  organi- 
zation of  the  various  communities,  though  certain  aspects  of  this,  as  the 
organization  into  Farmers'  Clubs,  have  economic  importance.  We  are 
here  interested  in  those  forms  of  organization  whose  primary  bearing  is 
economic. 

(1)  The  Tobacco  Growers'  Association.  This  association,  which  in- 
cludes the  tobacco  growers  of  Frederick,  Howard,  Carroll  and  Mont- 
gomery Counties,  was  organized  seven  years  ago.  A  large  part  of  its 
work  has  been  educational.  It  is  in  no  sense  an  attempt  to  pool  the 
tobacco  output  of  these  counties  with  a  view  to  controlling  the  price. 
It  has  encouraged  better  methods  of  production  and  care  of  the  tobacco; 
it  has  advocated  honest  packing,  both  as  to  weight  and  uniformity  of 
quality  and  in  this  connection  employed  a  grader  for  a  period  of  time; 
it  investigates  market  conditions  and  recommends  to  its  members  some 
reliable  firm  to  handle  their  output.  Its  effects  have  been  almost  to 
double  the  crop  yield  through  the  improved  methods  of  cultivation, 
and  to  increase  the  price  about  one  third  by  gaining  the  confidence 
of  the  buyers  in  the  quality  of  the  tobacco  and  the  fairness  of  its  packing. 

(2)  The  Milk  Producers'  Association  of  Maryland,  Virginia  and  the 
District  of  Columbia.  This  association  represents  about  20,000  dairy 
cows  of  which  at  least  two-fifths  are  owned  in  Montgomery  County. 
The  total  membership  is  about  450.  There  is  at  present  no  attempt  to 
fix  prices  of  dairy  products.  The  work  of  the  association  is  to  advocate 
better  legislation,  protest  against  imposition  of  any  sort,  discuss  and  en- 
courage improved  methods  of  handling  the  herds  and  in  general,  better 
the  conditions  under  which  the  dairymen  work. 

(3)  The  Sandy  Spring  Fruit  Growers'  Association.  This  association 
has  just  been  formed  with  twenty-six  members,  and  represents  at  present 
about  15,000  trees.  Most  of  the  orchards  are  still  young  so  naturally 
its  work  in  the  immediate  future  must  be  largely  educational.  The  pur- 
pose of  the  association  is  described  by  its  constitution  as  follows:  (1) 
To  disseminate  scientific  information;  (2)  to  secure  advantageous  legis- 
lation; (3)  to  secure  improved  transportation  facilities;  (4)  to  secure 
a  uniform  system  of  packing  and  package;  (5)  to  develop  and  open  up 
markets.  To  this  it  may  be  added  that  when  the  orchards  generally 
begin  to  bear,  the  association  plans  to  undertake  cooperative  selling  of  its 
products  through  an  agent,  at  which  time  it  will  probably  be  chartered. 

(4)  The  Grange.  There  are  three  branches  of  the  Grange  in  the 
county,  two  in  the  Olney  District  and  one  in  the  Colesville  District, 
with  a  total  membership  of  about  180.     Though  a  considerable  part 

20 


of  the  importance  of  the  Grange  is  due  to  its  social  functions  (typified 
by  the  enormous  dinner  which  is  always  a  feature  of  its  meeting)  it  has 
also  economic  importance.  It  provides  an  opportunity  for  discussion 
of  improved  farm  methods;  it  is  a  medium  for  the  expression  of  opinions 
on  matters  relating  to  the  welfare  of  the  community;  its  executive  com- 
mittee does  an  amount  of  cooperative  buying  for  its  members,  of  house- 
hold articles,  farm  machinery,  fertilizer,  etc. 

(5)  Farmers'  Clubs.  There  are  five  Farmers'  Clubs  in  the  county; 
three  in  the  Sandy  Spring  Neighborhood,  one  in  the  Laytonsville  Dis- 
trict and  one  in  the  Colesville  District.  These  clubs  have  had  a  very 
important  part  in  the  development  of  farming  in  the  county.  Open 
discussions  of  all  matters  connected  with  the  business  of  farming,  with 
agricultural  methods  and  with  farm  life  are  features  of  the  meetings. 
This  has  made  possible  a  higher  grade  of  farming  and  has  induced  a  more 
thorough  understanding  and  more  complete  cooperation  amongst  the 
farmers  concerned. 

(6)  Open  Meetings.  An  annual  Farmers'  Convention  is  held  in  the 
Lyceum  Hall  at  Sandy  Spring.  Last  year  about  200  were  in  attendance. 
These  gatherings  are  more  representative  of  Sandy  Spring  than  of  the 
entire  county,  but  at  least  they  are  a  short  step  toward  better  and  more 
general  cooperation,  and  every  little  step  helps. 

The  County  Fair  Association  has  an  open  membership  of  over  200. 
It  owns  large  Fair  Grounds  at  Rockville,  and  holds  an  annual  Fair  in 
September.  The  attendance  is  usually  very  good  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  rain  is  generally  a  feature.  To  the  latter  circumstance  is  due  the 
fact  that  the  association  is  rather  heavily  in  debt  at  present.  The  uses  of 
the  County  Fair  are  many,  but  are  too  well  known  to  require  comment  here. 

(7)  There  is  one  interesting  instance  of  cooperative  farming  in  the 
Colesville  District,  namely  the  Commonwealth  Farm,  which  is  owned 
and  operated  by  a  syndicate  of  Washington  women,  who  conduct  their 
affairs  very  successfully.  It  is  rumored  that  they  get  on  entirely  without 
masculine  counsel  or  assistance. 

These  instances  of  cooperation,  scattering  and  insufficient  as  they  are, 
are  nevertheless  very  significant.  If  it  is  true,  as  seems  to  us  incon- 
testable, that  it  is  to  organized  cooperation  that  the  farmers  must  look 
if  they  would  materially  better  their  present  circumstances,  these  present 
beginnings  are  big  with  possibilities  for  the  future  and  indicate  a  way 
which  must  be  more  and  more  generally  followed. 

(f)  Stores,  Banks  and  Other  Non-Productive  Business  Agencies 

(1)  Stores.  There  are  215  stores  of  various  sorts  in  the  county.  Of 
this  number,  nearly  two-thirds  are  in  the  open  country  or  in  small  vil- 
lages.    This  is  about  one  store  to  every  150  inhabitants, 

21 


(2)  Banks.  There  are  at  present  eight  banks  in  the  county,  at  Pooles- 
ville,  Gaithersburg,  Rockville  (2),  Silver  Spring,  Kensington,  Sandy 
Spring  (2).  A  ninth  is  in  process  of  organization,  at  Bethesda.  These 
banks  are  all  in  good  financial  condition.  Their  total  deposits  amount 
to  more  than  two  and  a  half  million  dollars. 

(3)  Others.  The  Mutual  Fire  Insurance  Company  of  Montgomery 
County  has  its  headquarters  at  Sandy  Spring.  On  December  1,  1911 
this  company  reported  its  condition  as  follows:  gain  in  risks  during  the 
year,  $275,648;  amount  of  risks  in  force  that  day,  $16,259,835;  gain  in 
premium  notes  during  the  year,  $90,646;  premium  notes  in  force  that 
day,  $2,518,016.45. 

There  are  about  60  blacksmith  shops  in  the  county.  Of  other  business 
firms  not  yet  mentioned  in  any  connection,  there  are  perhaps  a  dozen, 
including  a  Mutual  Building  and  Loan  Association,  and  several  Real 
Estate  and  Insurance  Houses.  In  addition,  there  are  several  large  land 
companies  operating  in  the  county,  but  financed  largely  by  outside 
capital. 

(g)  Land  Development  for  Suburban  Purposes 

In  the  lower  end  of  Montgomery  County,  the  conditions  are  almost 
ideal  for  suburban  development.  This  is  the  only  section  adjoining  the 
District  of  Columbia  which  is  not  separated  from  it  by  marshy  ground. 
The  prime  requisites  of  a  suburb  are,  first,  a  location  both  convenient 
and  naturally  attractive,  second,  good  transportation  facilities  at  a 
moderate  rate,  and  third,  satisfactory  local  conditions,  as  to  sanitation, 
lighting,  local  government,  etc.     These  requisities  are  all  met  here. 

The  development  has  taken  place  chiefly  in  the  Wheaton  and  Bethesda 
Districts.  In  Bethesda  the  greater  part  of  the  district  has  been  taken 
up  for  this  purpose.  Relatively  little  farrtiing  is  done  here  now.  Most 
of  the  land  that  has  not  already  been  subdivided,  has  either  been  bought 
up  and  is  held  awaiting  development,  or  is  valued  at  so  high  a  figure  that 
farming  is  no  longer  profitable.  The  land  is  for  the  most  part  rather 
level  and  open  and  comparatively  unwooded;  the  ridge  or  watershed 
through  the  district  affords  good  natural  drainage  and  excellent  water 
supply.  Gas  and  electricity  are  available  in  most  sections.  A  great 
deal  of  wealth  has  been  invested  here.  Chevy  Chase,  for  example,  is 
Washington's  most  aristocratic  and  fashionable  suburb;  its  Country 
Clubs  are  among  the  largest  in  the  country,  with  grounds  that  are 
unsur])assed  anywhere.  Except  for  Che\y  Chase  and  vicinity,  the 
development  is  still  largely  in  the  future.  One  tract  of  4,000  acres, 
extending  from  Chevy  Chase  to  the  Great  Falls  of  the  Potomac  in  a 
strip  nine  miles  long  and  one  mile  wide,  has  just  been  acquired  by  a 
land  corporation  which  announces  extensive  improvement  in  the  near 

22 


future.  It  is  planned  to  run  a  boulevard  and  a  trolley  line  through  the 
centre  of  the  property  for  its  entire  length.  Country  homes  of  from 
one  to  ten  acres  each,  sold  under  the  usual  restrictions,  are  contemplated. 

In  the  Wheaton  District,  the  development  is  taking  place  along  some- 
what different  lines.  About  one  half  of  the  arable  land  here  is  still 
farmed.  The  subdivisions  are  all  along  the  line  of  the  B.  &  0.  Railroad. 
Some  farming  land  has  been  bought  up  by  outside  capital  and  is  held 
in  large  tracts,  but  where  development  has  taken  place  most  of  the  land 
is  in  small  holdings.  A  line  of  small  towns  extends  along  the  railroad 
from  the  District  of  Columbia  to  the  Rockville  District.  These  towns 
are  to  a  large  extent  settled  by  Government  employees  amd  other 
salaried  men.  The  country  here  is  naturally  very  picturesque  and  is 
rather  heavily  wooded.  All  modern  conveniences  are  available.  Ta- 
koma  Park  is  the  only  place  in  the  county  where  really  urban  conditions 
are  met  with.  Here  the  apartment  house  has  made  its  appearance; 
there  is  also  mail  delivery  to  the  homes,  by  carriers  from  the  Wash- 
ington postofEce.  Part  of  this  town  lies  outside  the  county.  Taking  the 
district  as  a  whole,  the  development  here  has  been  carried  farther  than 
in   Bethesda. 

Rockville  District  has  also  shared  in  the  Suburban  Development  to 
some  extent.  There  are  a  number  of  sub-divisions  along  the  railroad 
which  will  undoubtedly  be  settled  up  in  time,  but  not  much  progress 
in  this  direction  has  been  made  as  yet,  and  the  chances  are  that  it  will 
come  rather  slowly. 


BRIDGE  OVER  NORTH   BRANCH 


23 


I>iitr,i.t  A^o   L      XL    HL    IV     V    EZ    22  EZZ    /X   X    ii.  sHxrlT 


DIAGRAM   NO.   IV — PERCENTAGE   OF  TOTAL   MILES  OF   PUBLIC 
ROADS  MACADAMIZED 


(h)  Transportation  and  Markets 

This  topic  involves  a  summary  of  all  that  is  most  important  in  the 
discussion  of  economic  conditions.  In  the  last  analysis  a  farming  com- 
munity is  dependent  for  its  prosperity  in  the  widest  sense  upon  its 
markets.  The  fundamental  rural  problem  is  the  economic  problem. 
Good  schools,  good  churches,  developed  social  life,  adequate  recreation 
facilities,  constant  communication  with  outside  forces  and  influences 
making  for  progress,  and  all  their  by-products  in  culture,  education, 
comfort  and  efficiency,  these  things  that  make  life  in  the  open  country 
worth  while,  are  all  dependent  fundamentally  upon  the  economic 
status  of  the  community.  Obviously  this  is  a  question  of  income. 
Social  institutions  must  always  be  expected  to  occupy  a  second  place. 
Those  things  which  pertain  directly  to  the  up-keep  of  the  farm  as  a 
producing  agency  must  come  first.  If  there  is  a  sufficient  margin  of 
income,  social  improvements  become  possible. 

To  obtain  this  margin  it  must  be  in  a  position  to  dispose  of  its  pro- 
ducts at  a  fair  profit.  Thus  great  importance  attaches  to  the  question 
of  transportation  and  market  facilities. 

(1)  Means  of  Transportation.  Three  transportation  mediums  are  im- 
portant in  this  connection:  the  Metropolitan  Branch  of  the  B.  &  O. 
Railroad,  the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  Canal,  and  the  roads,  particularly 
the  stone  roads.     These  we  will  discuss  in  the  order  named. 

24 


The  B.  &  O.  Branch  runs  out  from  Washington  City  diagonally 
through  the  county,  passing  through  the  Wheaton,  Rockville,  Gaithers- 
burg,  Clarksburg  and  Barnesville  Districts,  and  through  the  towns  of 
Takoma  Park,  Silver  Spring,  Kensington,  Forest  Glen,  Rockville,  Gaith- 
ersburg,  Germantown,  Boyds,  Barnesville  Station  and  Dickerson.  The 
passenger  service  is  convenient  and  reliable  though  the  cars  are  mostly 
of  a  somewhat  ancient  type.  The  freight  service  is  sufficient  for  the  needs 
of  the  county.  The  road  is  double-tracked  to  a  point  between  Gaithers- 
burg  and  Germantown.  It  is  available  to  about  two- thirds  of  the 
county,  but  is  of  value  for  shipping  purposes  chiefly  to  the  Rockville, 
Darnestown,  Gaithersburg,  Laytonsville,  Clarksburg,  Barnesville  and 
Poolesville  Districts. 

The  C.  &  O.  Canal  runs  parallel  with  the  Potomac  River  on  the  Mont- 
gomery County  side,  for  the  entire  length  of  the  county  line  from  the 
Monocacy  River  to  the  District  of  Columbia.  It  was  built  primarily 
to  transport  coal  from  the  Cumberland  Mountains.  Twenty  years  or 
more  ago  it  was  taken  over  by  the  B.  &  0.  Railroad  and  has  since  been 
operated  by  them.  For  the  19>2  miles  above  Seneca,  there  are  two 
levels,  11^  and  8  miles  long  respectively;  between  Seneca  and  the 
District  of  Columbia  there  are  24  locks.  The  canal  is  not  locally  used  as 
much  now  as  formerly.  It  is  chiefly  important  for  those  districts 
which  lie  along  the  Potomac;  Poolesville,  Darnestown  and  Potomac. 

It  might  also  be  mentioned  that  the  Southern  Metropolitan  Branch 
of  the  B.  &  0.  runs  through  the  Bethesda  District,  entering  the  county 
near  the  Potomac  River,  running  across  the  lower  half  of  the  district, 
by  Bethesda  Station  and  Chevy  Chase  Lake,  uniting  with  the  Metro- 
politan Branch  at  Linden.  This  road  is  for  freight  only;  it  is  not  used 
appreciably  for  the  marketing  of  farm  produce,  but  is  chiefly  important 
for  the  shipping  of  building  materials,  tile,  etc.,  into  the  Bethesda  District 

The  road  question  is  somewhat  more  complicated.  The  total  number 
of  miles  of  road  in  the  county  is  830.  Ninety-nine  miles  of  this  total  is 
stone  road  of  varying  degrees  of  excellence.  Diagram  No.  IV  on  op- 
posite page  and  Table  No.  8,  Appendix,  page  II,  show  the  distribution 
of  the  roads  by  districts.  The  99  miles  of  stone  road  are  divided  among 
twelve  out  of  the  thirteen  districts.  For  every  mile  of  stone  road 
there  is  about  7^  miles  of  dirt  road.  The  building  of  stone  roads  has 
for  some  reason  proven  a  very  expensive  operation,  both  in  the  initial 
cost  and  the  up-keep.  All  that  is  state  and  county  built  is  relatively 
new  and  for  the  most  part  is  in  good  condition,  with  excellent  culverts, 
bridges  and  grades.  The  24  miles  of  toll-road  is  older,  and  though 
originally  very  well  made  and  with  an  excellent  bottom,  is  at  present 
rather  rough,  a  condition  not  much  improved  by  the  fact  that  the 
prevailing  method  of  repairing  it  appears  to  be  to  dump  small  stone 

25 


and  a  limited  amount  of  dirt  on  the  worn  places  and  let  the  traffic  crush 
it.  The  dirt  roads  are  not  necessarily  bad;  they  have  the  advantage  of 
having  been  laid  out  according  to  the  contour  of  the  land.  But  the 
culverts  and  bridges  are  apt  to  be  poor;  moreover,  in  the  wet  season, 
it  saddens  the  soul  to  behold  the  mud;  good  rich,  red  clay  of  the  kind 
that  sticketh  closer  than  a  brother.  The  investigators  experienced  the 
joy  of  many  long  drives  during  the  month  of  March,  when  a  good  horse 
might  attain  the  dizzy  speed  of  2)4.  or  3  miles  an  hour.  But  the  rest  of 
the  year  they  are  not  so  bad,  as  there  is  little  sand  and  much  clay  and 
stone.  The  roads  chiefly  important  for  marketing  which  may  be 
termed  good  roads  are  as  follows: 

Norbeck  to  Rockville. 
Ashton  to  Burtonsville. 
Columbia  Turnpike. 

From  the  Sandy  Spring  Road  to  the  Columbia  Turnpike  near  White- 
oak,  via  Colesville. 
Union  Turnpike. 
Ashton  to  Olney. 

Sandy  Spring  to  Norwood  to  Lay  Hill  to  Glenmont. 
Georgetown  Turnpike. 
Rockville  to  (near)  Gaithersburg. 
Darnestown  to  Gaithersburg. 
Laytonsville  to  Gaithersburg. 
Poolesville  to  Barnsville. 
Potomac  to  District  of  Columbia. 
Clarksburg  to  (near)  Boyds. 

These  roads  give  access  to  Washington  by  stone  road  to  the  Coles- 
ville, Olney,  Wheaton,  Bethesda,  Potomac,  Rockville,  Laytonsville, 
Gaithersburg  and  Darnestown  Districts.  The  Laytonsville  and  Darnes- 
town Pikes  also  connect  with  the  B.  &  O.  at  Gaithersburg;  the  Pooles- 
ville-Barnesville  Pike  connects  with  the  B.  &  0.  at  Barnesville  Station, 
and  the  Norbeck  Pike  connects  with  it  at  Rockville. 

In  general,  it  may  be  said  that  what  has  made  Montgomery  County 
commercially  is  its  proximity  to  the  City  of  Washington,  afifording  it  a 
ready  and  easily  accessible  market  for  all  of  its  products.  We  will  now 
discuss  in  detail  the  methods  of  marketing  which  prevail  in  the  different 
districts. 

Poolesville.  The  farmers  here  have  two  mediums  of  transportation, 
the  canal  and  the  railroad.  The  canal  is  now  used  less  and  the  railroad 
more  than  formerly;  both,  however,  are  important.  In  general  it  may 
be  said  that  all  those  living  between  the  Potomac  River  and  a  line  drawn 
from  Seneca  to  the  mouth  of  the  Monococy,  ship  by  the  canal.     The  main 

26 


shipping  points  are  Seneca,  Sycamore,  Edward's  Ferry  and  White's 
Ferry.  There  are  grain  elevators  at  all  of  these  places.  The  usual 
custom  is  to  sell  to  men  on  the  ground,  who  board  the  produce  and 
market  it  in  Washington.  Often  the  owners  of  the  canal  boats  carry  the 
grain  to  the  city  for  the  growers  and  sell  it  for  a  freight  commission. 
One  canal  boat  will  carry  about  4,000  bushels  of  grain,  and  takes  one 
day  to  get  to  market.  The  farmers  living  in  that  part  of  the  district  not 
included  in  the  section  described  above  usually  ship  by  rail.  The  ship- 
ping points  are  Dickerson,  Barnesville  Station,  Bucklodge  and  Boyds. 
The  dairymen,  of  whom  there  are  a  few  in  the  north  end  of  the  District, 
all  ship  by  rail,  selling  to  middlemen  in  Washington.  Washington  is 
ultimately  the  market  for  all  of  the  products  of  this  district. 

Barnesville.  The  dairymen  all  ship  to  Washington  by  rail,  boarding 
it  at  Dickerson,  Barnesville  Station,  Bucklodge  or  Boyds.  The  wheat 
is  for  the  most  part  hauled  to  German  town  and  other  local  elevators; 
little  of  it  is  shipped  by  the  growers. 

Darnestown.  In  this  district  three  means  of  transportation  are 
used,  the  canal,  the  railroad,  and  direct  haul  by  wagon  to  Washington. 
In  general  it  may  be  said  that  those  living  between  Darnestown  village 
and  the  river  use  the  canal  to  market  their  grain,  shipping  mostly  from 
Seneca.  In  the  upper  end  of  the  district,  the  grain  is  hauled  to  German- 
town  and  sold  at  the  elevator  there.  Some  in  the  vicinity  of  Quince 
Orchard  haul  to  Gaithersburg.  Between  Travillah  and  Quince  Orchard 
there  is  some  tendency  to  haul  directly  to  Washington,  a  distance  of 
from  15  to  18  miles.  The  few  dairymen  in  the  district  ship  by  rail  from 
Gaithersburg. 

Clarksburg.  In  the  lower  end  of  this  district  there  is  a  considerable 
amount  of  dairying;  in  the  upper  end  tobacco  is  grown;  throughout  the 
district  grain  and  grass  are  staples.  The  dairy  products  are  all  shipped 
to  Washington  by  rail.  The  market  for  tobacco  is  Baltimore,  and  the 
shipping  point  is  Mt.  Airy,  a  haul  of  ten  miles  or  more  over  what  are 
technically  known  as  "ordinary  country  roads,"  which  in  this  instance 
means  roads  not  ordinarily  good  and  more  than  ordinarily  hilly.  The 
chief  market  for  wheat  is  Germantown. 

Gaithersburg.  The  chief  marketable  products  are  hay,  grain,  dairy 
products  and  garden  truck.  The  dairy  products  are  shipped  to  Wash- 
ington by  rail  and  handled  by  middlemen  there.  Grain  is  sold  at  local 
elevators.  There  is  some  local  market  for  hay  among  dairymen.  Gar- 
den truck  is  in  part  shipped  by  rail  and  in  part  handled  by  trucksters 
in  a  manner  which  will  be  explained  later.  A  few  who  farm  on  a  large 
scale  ship  their  grain  to  the  city  and  dispose  of  it  there. 

Laytonsville.  The  marketing  facilities  here  are  practically  the  same 
as  in  Gaithsburg,  with  the   addition   that  beef  is  also  marketed  in 

27 


Washington  and  shii)])e(l  there  by  rail.  The  shipping  point  is 
Gaithersburg. 

Da?>iascHS.  This  district  has  the  poorest  market  facilities  of  any  dis- 
trict in  the  county.  The  farmers  here  have  the  longest  haul  to  their 
shipping  points  and  they  have  the  poorest  roads  to  haul  over.  There 
is  not  an  inch  of  macadam  in  the  district.  The  land  is  the  highest  in 
the  county.  The  hills  which  are  numerous  and  substantial  would  be 
more  convenient  for  skeeing  than  for  marketing.  All  tobacco  is  hauled 
to  Mt.  Airy  and  shipped  by  rail  to  Baltimore.  Shipment  is  made  in 
hogsheads  containing  700  to  800  pounds.  The  wheat  is  hauled  either 
to  Mt.  Airy  or  Germantown.  From  Damascus  village  the  distance 
to  Mt.  Airy  is  7  miles,  to  Germantown  10  miles,  and  to  Gaithersburg  12 
miles.  It  is  expected,  or  at  least  hoped,  that  the  Germantown  road 
will  soon  be  macadamized. 

Potomac.  In  this  District  the  farmers  for  the  greater  part  haul 
directly  to  Washington,  ten  miles,  with  pike  all  the  way.  The  canal  is 
available  to  some,  but  is  not  used  to  any  considerable  extent. 

Rockville.  All  dairy  products  are  shipped  by  rail  to  middlemen  in 
Washington.  Grain,  hay,  etc.,  are  either  shipped  by  rail  or  hauled 
direct  to  the  same  market.  There  is  good  pike  all  the  way,  a  haul  of 
about  14  miles. 

Olney.  This  district  has  but  one  market  and  but  one  way  of  getting 
there,  Washington,  reached  by  direct  wagon  haul.  But  it  is  blessed 
with  good  stone  roads  available  to  almost  all  parts,  a  haul  of  from  12 
miles  upward.  Grain,  hay  and  potatoes  are  all  marketed  in  this  way. 
Dairying  is  an  extensive  industry  here.  In  the  lower  end  of  the  district 
some  dairymen  drive  daily  to  the  city  and  sell  their  milk  on  retail  routes. 
Further  up,  most  of  the  milk  is  carried  by  a  few  men  who  make  the  trip 
daily,  picking  up  milk  along  their  way,  charging  2>^  cents  a  gallon  for 
hauling,  and  selling  to  small  dairies.  A  few  sell  to  certain  large  con- 
sumers in  Washington,  as  hospitals  or  hotels.  One  dairy  in  Washing- 
ton is  owned  here,  and  considerable  milk  is  handled  through  that  medium. 

ColesviUe.  In  the  upper  end  of  the  District,  the  milk  is  hauled  by  a 
few  men  at  a  stated  rate  for  hauling.  In  the  lower  part  it  is  to  some 
extent  disposed  of  on  retail  routes.  There  are  three  markets  for  wheat: 
local  mills,  Silver  Spring,  and  Washington;  most  of  it  goes  to  the  first 
two.  Other  products,  potatoes,  hay,  eggs,  etc.,  are  hauled  to  Washington 
by  their  producers  and  sold  in  the  public  market  there.  Good  stone 
roads  are  available  to  almost  all. 

Wheaton.  In  this  district  there  is  a  home  market  for  much  hay  and 
corn,  the  dairymen  for  the  most  part  requiring  more  than  they  can  raise. 
Wheat  and  hay  are  hauled  to  Silver  Spring  and  sold  there.  Most  of  the 
dairymen,  especially  in  the  lower  end  of  the  District,  drive  to  Washington 

28 


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daily.  Trucking  is  of  course  done  almost  exclusively  for  the  Washington 
market.     The  district  is  well  provided  with  available  pikes. 

Bethesda.  This  is  the  least  important  district,  agriculturally,  in  the 
county.  All  of  its  products  are  hauled  direct  to  Washington.  Good 
roads  are  available. 

One  other  feature  of  the  market  situation  which  deserves  attention 
is  the  way  in  which  garden  products,  eggs,  butter,  poultry,  etc.,  are 
handled.  A  number  of  hucksters  have  well  established  routes  through 
the  county  which  they  cover  on  set  days  picking  up  these  particular 
products.  At  the  end  of  the  week  they  take  them  to  Washington, 
usually  selling  from  the  stands  in  the  City  market.  Returning  they 
bring  melons,  fish,  etc.  in  season,  peddling  them  through  the  county. 
Almost  the  entire  county  is  covered  in  this  fashion  and  a  good  proportion 
of  these  products  are  so  handled. 

In  general  it  will  be  observed  that  market  conditions  are  very  favor- 
able. The  market  is  constant  and  moreover  is  a  growing  market,  and 
for  the  most  part  it  is  a  cash  market.  But  little  time  is  required  to  reach 
it  and  in  most  instances  it  is  fairly  accessible.  However,  it  is  also  ap- 
parent that  more  good  roads  are  required'  and  that  from  every  point 
of  view  it  will  pay  the  county  to  build  them.     This  is  quite  generally 

29 


realized  and  the  Good  Roads  Movement  is  rapidly  gaining  supporters. 
In  certain  sections  the  farmers  are  about  ready  to  build  the  roads  at 
their  own  expense.  This  spring  a  group  of  men  from  the  Darnestown 
District  so  expressed  themselves  with  reference  to  a  road  which  for  their 
purposes  particularly  needed  piking.  At  the  present  time  an  addition 
of  72  miles  is  proposed  under  the  State  Road  System  which  will 
materially  improve  conditions  if  built  as  planned. 

POPULATION 

The  1910  Census  gives  the  total  population  of  the  county  as  32,089. 
This  is  an  increase  for  the  decade  1900-1910  of  1,638  or  5.4%.  The 
increase  for  the  preceeding  decade,  1890-1900,  was  3,266  or  12%. 
(See  Table  No.  9,  Appendix,  page  III). 

Since  the  total  land  area  of  the  county  is  521  square  miles,  a  popula- 
tion of  32,089  makes  the  density  for  the  whole  county  61.4  inhabitants 
per  square  mile.  For  the  entire  state  the  density  is  130.3  per  square 
mile.  There  are  23  counties  in  the  state  and  Montgomery  County 
stands  fourteenth  in  respect  to  the  density  of  the  total  population. 
For  the  entire  state  the  density  of  the  rural  population  (according  to  the 
Census  definition  of  "rural"  as  all  those  living  outside  of  places  of  2,500 
inhabitants  or  more)  is  64.1  per  square  mile.  Montgomery  stands 
eleventh  in  this  respect,  its  entire  population  being  classified  as  rural. 
In  this  report  hereafter  a  different  classification  will  be  more  con- 
venient.    All  places  of  750  or  more  inhabitants  will  be  referred  to  as 

towns;  places  of  from  100  to  750  in- 
habitants will  be  termed  villages;  the 
remaining  population  will  be  termed 
"rural".  (The  division  of  the  popu- 
lation into  these  classes  for  1900  and 
1910  is  shown  by  Table  No.  10, 
Appendix,  page  III). 

In  1900  the  rural  population  formed 
a  larger  per  cent,  of  the  total  than  in 
1910  and  there  has  been  a  gain  in 
the  towns.  Six  districts,  Nos.  5,  7, 
9,  11,  12  and  13,  during  that  decade 
showed  an  increase  of  2,855,  while  the 
remaining  seven  districts  showed  a 
decrease  of  1,217.  Of  the  six  dis- 
tricts showing  an  increase,  two,  Be- 
thesda  and  Wheaton,  are  suburban 
districts;  two,  Barnesville  and  Gai- 
thersburg  are  adjacent  to  the  railroad 

30 


MAMMY 


and  part  of  the  increase  is  suburban  in  character;  the  other  two, 
Colesville  and  Damascus,  are  as  strictly  rural  as  any  districts  in 
the  county,  but  their  gain  was  very  small,  42  in  one  instance  and  39 
in  the  other.  A  closer  examination  of  the  figures  shows  that  the  rural 
population  of  the  county  has  decreased  since  1900,  and  is  steadily  de- 
creasing. For  the  six  districts  showing  an  increase,  66%  of  the  increase 
was  of  suburban,  village  or  town  population;  for  the  seven  districts 
showing  a  decrease,  91%  of  the  decrease  was  of  rural  population.  The 
increase  for  the  whole  county  was  1,638;  the  increase  in  suburban, 
village  and  town  population  was  2,402;  the  decrease  in  rural  population 
was  764.  Seven  districts,  Nos.  1,  2,  3,  4,  6,  8,  10,  show  a  decrease  in 
rural  population.  The  net  loss  in  rural  population  is  thus  about  4%. 
Excluding  districts  7  and  13  (in  which  approximately  two-thirds  of  the 
area  is  not  farmed)  there  are  about  460  square  miles  of  open  country 
in  the  county,  with  a  population  density  of  about  46  to  the  square  mile. 
Here  the  total  population  has  slightly  decreased,  though  the  population 
of  the  towns  and  villages  has  increased.  (See  Table  No.  11,  Appendix, 
page  TV). 

Obviously  there  is  a  movement,  marked  though  not  of  serious  ])ro- 
portions,  out  of  the  rural  districts.  This  does  not,  however,  necessarily 
offer  any  very  urgent  problem,  when  it  is  remembered  that  the  number 
of  farms  over  the  same  period  has  increased  from  2,085  to  2,442.  It  is 
evidently  not  the  farmers  who  are  making  their  exit,  but  either  the  class 
from  which  have  been  drawn  the  laborers  on  the  farms  or  in  the  country 
stores,  blacksmith  shops,  mills,  etc.,  or  the  ''floating"  population,  colored 
mostly,  who  in  the  past  have  been  making  their  living,  none  knows  how 
but  themselves,  and  who  economically  have  not  been  a  productive  force 
but  rather  a  drag  upon  the  community. 

Of  the  population  28.8%  are  colored.     The  figures  for  the  county  are: 

White 22,847 

Colored 9,235 

Other  non- white 7 

Seventy-five  percent.,  probably,  of  the  colored  population  are  found 
either  in  little  settlements  and  villages  scattered  through  the  county,  or 
in  the  colored  sections  of  the  larger  towns. 

k  The  county  as  a  whole  has  a  relatively  stable  population;  the  suburban 
population  is  of  course  rather  a  shifting  element,  but  for  the  remainder  of 
the  county,  probably  90%  of  the  farm  owners  are  old  settlers,  i.e.,  have 
been  in  the  county  15  years  or  more.  In  many  sections  the  proportion 
is  even  higher.  There  is  some  tendency,  to  move  from  one  location  to 
another  within  the  county.  This  fact  and  the  fact  that  a  fourth  of  the 
farming  population  are  tenants  would  make  the  proportion  of  old  resid- 

31 


ents  for  any  particular  neighborhood  somewhat  less  than  70%.  Of 
the  new-comers,  in  the  farming  sections,  a  very  small  proportion  are  of 
foreign  birth,  the  greater  part  being  from  Pennsylvania,  Virginia  and  the 
neighboring  Maryland  counties. 

As  far  as  the  white  population  is  concerned,  we  are  here  dealing 
with  the  best  American  stock.  Throughout  the  county  an  unusually 
high  level  of  culture  and  education  is  maintained.  In  this  respect,  the 
farms  are  as  interesting  as  the  towns.  An  astonishingly  large  propor- 
tion of  the  farmers,  especially  in  the  Laytonsville  and  Olney  Districts, 
have  had  the  benefit  of  a  college  education  or  have  achieved  its  equival- 
ent in  general  culture.  This  fact  was  borne  in  upon  the  investigators' 
minds  by  their  first  experience  with  a  Farmers'  Club  in  the  county. 
They  attended  a  meeting  of  this  club  with  the  preconceived  notion  that 
"rural"  meant  good  citizenship,  high  character  and  sterling  worth, 
but  hardly  broad  education  and  general  culture.  They  came  away 
knowing  that  it  meant  all  of  that  and  more,  and  realizing  that  the  only 
safe  plan  when  attending  similar  meetings  in  the  future  would  be  to 
have  a  care  that  their  trousers  were  pressed  and  their  shoes  blacked, 
their  minds  clear  and  their  English  correct,  and  their  general  deportment 
above  reproach.  In  the  Districts  mentioned,  and  elsewhere  to  a  con- 
siderable extent,  traditions  of  education  have  been  long  maintained. 
In  other  districts,  particularly  in  the  upper  end  of  the  county,  the  pres- 
ent generation  hasn't  had  the  advantage  of  educated  grandfathers, 
but  here  within  30  years,  very  substantial  progress  along  these  lines  has 
been  made.  At  present,  there  are  very  few  illiterates  among  the  white 
population  of  the  county. 

As  regards  industry,  the  conditions  aie  quite  as  favorable.  The 
great  proportion  of  the  whites  are  regularly  industrious.  One  district 
reported  an  old  practise  of  "white-capping"  the  idle.  In  general, 
however,  there  has  been  little  necessity  for  coercion  in  this  direction. 
To  be  sure,  there  are  circles  in  which  industry  does  not  mean  the  long 
hours  and  unceasingly  hard  labor  that  usually  characterize  farm  life. 
For  example,  in  the  Laytonsville  District,  a  proportion  of  the  farm- 
owners  represent  what  we  may  describe  as  "The  Old  South,"  and  among 
them  the  word  "industry"  must  be  liberally  interpreted.  These  men 
are  good  farmers,  but  do  not  themselves  do  much  of  the  hard  work, 
and  in  consequence  they  are  not  making  the  progress  economically  that 
many  of  their  thriftier  neighbors  are  making. 

Among  the  negroes,  the  conditions  are  not  so  favorable.  The  exact 
facts  were  exceedingly  difficult  to  get  at.  Probably  at  least  two-thirds 
of  the  adults  are  illiterate  and  a  considerable  proportion  more  or  less 
regularly  indolent.  (In  the  Sandy  Spring  neighborhood,  a  bulletin 
of  the  Department  of  Labor,  1899,  reported  70%  of  the  negroes  as  able 

32 


HOME  OF  A  PROSPEROUS  COLORED  FARMER 

to  read  and  write,  the  majority  of  them  as  industrious,  and  many  of 
them  as  obtaining  and  holding  property.  The  conditions  here  are 
exceptional,  however,  and  our  present  remarks  are  applicable  to  the 
remainder  of  the  county).  It  was  frequently  suggested  to  the  investiga- 
tors, as  a  profitable  field  for  study,  that  they  endeavor  to  ascertain  just 
what  sources  of  income  certain  colonies  of  negroes  had,  as  they  were 
popularly  believed  to  do  no  work. 

But  if  the  negroes  of  the  county  are  to  any  considerable  extent  illiterate 
and  indolent,  at  least  a  part  of  the  blame  should  be  put  upon  the  white 
population,  who  appear  to  have  taken  it  for  granted  that  such  conditions 
will  always  maintain  and  to  have  made  no  especial  effort  toward  im- 
provement. They  have  neglected  the  colored  schools,  have  given  no 
encouragement  to  the  colored  churches,  and  have  made  no  systematic 
effort  to  better  the  economic  condition  of  the  negro. 

This  cannot  be  said  to  be  a  growing  problem,  for  in  the  last  thirty 
years  the  colored  population  has  remained  stationary  while  the  white 
population  has  increased  nearly  50%.  But  it  is  none  the  less  an  urgent 
problem  which  should  constrain  us  to  remember  that  the  while  popula- 
tion is  charged  with  the  responsibility  of  helping  the  colored  population 
until  such  time  as  it  can  care  for  itself  in  adequate  fashion. 


Industrial  Types 

There  are  2,442  farm  operators  in  the  county,  of  whom  2,042  are  native- 
born  whites,  51  are  foreign-born  whites  and  349  are  negroes.  Forty- 
five  physicians  live  in  the  county,  42  having  local  practise.  There  are 
20  practising  lawyers.     Other  professional  men  who  make  their  income 

33 


within  the  county  number  about  20.  A  large  proportion  of  the  men  liv- 
ing within  the  districts  where  suburban  development  has  gone  on  have 
their  work  in  Washington.  A  complete  industrial  classification  for 
the  whole  county  was  not  attempted. 

SOCIAL   MIND 
I — Means  of  Transportation  and  Communication 

The  problem  of  rural  isolation  is  an  important  one  from  many  ])()ints 
of  view,  but  particularly  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  de\elopment  of 
the  social  life  of  a  community.  The  typical  rural  community  still  has 
the  units  composing  it  relatively  isolated  and  hence  has  an  altogether 
inadequate  social  life,  due,  usually,  in  large  part  to  inadequate  means 
of  inter-communication.  Adequate  means  of  communication  are  of 
the  same  primary  importance  socially  that  adequate  means  of  trans- 
portation  are   economically. 

Railroad  and  Trolleys.  As  has  been  said,  the  Metropolitan  Branch  of 
the  B.  &  0.  runs  diagonally  through  the  county  and  is  available,  more 
or  less,  to  most  of  the  county.  For  the  upper  end  of  the  county,  the  B. 
&  0.  is  also  accessible  at  Mt.  Airy,  and  for  the  eastern  end  of  the  county, 
at  Laurel,  in  Prince  George's  County. 

There  are  six  trolley  roads  operating  in  the  county,  all  in  the  southern 
end,  providing  easy  communication  with  Washington  for  those  adjacent 
to  them.     They  are  as  follows: 

The  Georgetown  Electric,  running  from  Washington  to  Rockville 
through  the  Bethesda  and  Rockville  Districts.  This  is  one  of  the  best 
equipped  trolley  lines  in  the  vicinity  of  Washington,  giving  efl&cient 
service  on  a  convenient  schedule. 

Capital  Traction  Company;  running  a  line  from  Washington  through 
the  eastern  part  of  the  Bethesda  District  to  Chevy  Chase  Lake. 

Kensington  to  Chevy  Chase  Lake  connecting  there  for  Washington. 

Forest  Glen  to  Washington,  through  Woodside,  and  Silver  Spring. 

Takoma  Park  to  Washington;  short  run  and  convenient  schedule. 

"Washington  and  Great  Falls  Electric  Railway,"  from  Washington 
to  Cabin  John  via  Glen  Echo,  chiefly  important  for  the  crowds  that  it 
carries  out  from  Washington  in  summer  to  the  amusement  park  at 
Glen  Echo. 

Another  line  is  projected  to  run  from  Chevy  Chase  Lake  to  the  Great 
Falls  in  connection  with  the  Bradley  Hills  Development. 

Stage  Lines.  There  are  two  stage  lines  in  the  county  operated  on  a 
regular  schedule  of  two  trips  each  way  per  day.  One  of  these  connects 
Poolesville  and  Barnesville  Station  on  the  B.  &  O.,  a  distance  of  6  miles. 
The  other  connects  Ashton,  in  the  Olney  District,  and  Laurel,  a  distance 
of  11  miles. 

34 


Roads.  A  table  of  the  county  roads  was  given  in  connection  with  the 
discussion  of  markets.  It  would  be  hard  to  overestimate  the  social 
importance  of  good  roads.  A  system  of  good  roads  must  inevitably 
extend  the  limits  of  a  community,  by  increasing  the  distance  which 
it  is  possible  conveniently  to  travel  for  social  intercourse,  attendance 
upon  public  gatherings,  churches,  schools,  etc.  It  also  tends  to  increase 
the  solidity  of  a  community  and  the  strength  of  its  social  bonds  by 
facilitating  inter-communication.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  in 
Montgomery  County  social  organization  of  every  sort  is  closely  de- 
pendant upon  the  availability  of  adequate  transportation  facilities, 
particularly  upon  the  existence  of  good  roads.  Where  there  are  good 
roads,  as  in  the  Olney  District,  there  is  developed  social  life;  where  there 
are  no  good  roads,  as  in  the  Barnesville  District,  there  is  little  or  no 
social  life  except  in  the  villages.  This  point  will  become  clear  if  in 
connection  with  the  discussion  of  social  organizations  and  of  recreation 
facilities  reference  is  made  to  the  table  of  roads.  An  incidental  result 
of  good  roads  is  that  ultimately  they  mean  the  decline  of  the  cross- 
roads store  on  account  of  the  increased  tendency  to  drive  to  the  villages 
and  towns. 

R.  F.  D.  and  Telephones.  There  are  30  Rural  Free  Delivery  Routes 
starting  from  post  offices  within  the  county.  These  average  100  families 
each  on  a  10  to  27  mile  route.  There  are  also  seven  routes  starting 
from  points  in  adjoining  counties.  All  the  farmers  in  the  county  not 
immediately  adjacent  to  some  post  office  are  served  by  these  routes. 

There  are  approximately  1,250  telephones  in  the  county.  About  30% 
of  the  entire  number  of  farm  homes,  are  equipped  with  telephones. 
This  is  rather  a  small  proportion  for  a  prosperous  county;  in  three  counties 
surveyed  in  Missouri,  for  example,  88%  of  the  farmers  had  telephones. 
The  telephone  on  the  farm,  aside  from  its  advantages  for  the  conducting 
of  the  farm  business,  greatly  aids  social  intercourse,  though  it  has  some- 
what diminished  the  practice  of  neighborly  visits. 

Centres  of  Informal  Meeting 

That  is  to  say,  the  places  where  people  are  in  the  habit  of  congregating 
informally  for  small  talk  and  gossip.  Before  the  advent  of  the  rural 
delivery,  the  post  offices  served  that  purpose.  To  a  considerable  extent 
the  stores  are  such  centres  now,  both  in  the  villages  and  in  the  open 
country.  In  Rockville  the  Court  House,  especially  when  court  is  in 
session,  the  drug  store,  the  pool  room,  the  club  house  and  certain  stores 
all  have  their  habitues.  Throughout  the  county  the  churches  provide 
the  meeting  place  for  many  who  remain  to  chat  a  few  moments  after  the 
service.  Other  places  frequented  by  some  are  the  village  streets,  the 
depots  and  the  sheds  erected  at  principal  stops  of  the  Georgetown  trolley. 

35 


Incidentally,  the  trolleys  and  the  railroad  afford  the  opportunities  for 
many  chance  meetings,  especially  on  Saturdays,  when  the  county  goes  to 
the  city.  The  negroes,  of  course,  have  their  own  special  centres  of 
meeting — churches,  stores,  lodge  halls  and,  for  the  young  men,  often 
certain  open  places  in  woods,  where  they  gather  for  "pitch  "  and  "craps." 

Community  Leadership  and  Social  Control 

If  we  take  the  word  of  the  people  themselves,  we  shall  have  to  assert 
that  we  are  here  dealing  with  a  county  that  to  all  intents  and  purposes  is 
without  leaders.  There  seems  to  be  an  idea  abroad  through  these  farm- 
ing communities  that  to  have  leaders  is  undemocratic  and  savors  of 
servility.  The  question,  "Who  are  your  leaders?"  could  not  be  put 
adroitly  enough  to  the  average  farmer  to  elicit  any  answer  that  was  not 
in  substance  this:  "We  have  no  leaders;  we  all  think  for  ourselves  and 
reach  our  decisions  independently."  Indeed,  one  might  be  led  to  think 
that  instead  of  leaders  these  communities  were  equipped  with  profes- 
sional "leader  killers."  This  condition,  if  actually  existent,  would  be 
lamentable  enough,  and,  unfortunately  to  by  far  too  considerable  an 
extent  it  is  the  case.  A  community,  and  particularly  a  farming  com- 
munity, without  leaders,  whether  recognized  as  such  or  not,  is  afflicted 
with  a  species  of  social  disability  amounting  almost  to  impotence. 
Definite,  intelligent,  \agorous  leadership  is  always  a  prime  necessity  if 
substantial  progress  is  to  be  made.  Whether  the  thing  to  be  aimed  at  is 
better  roads,  better  schools  or  churches,  better  methods  of  farming, 
better  social  conditions,  more  efficient  cooperation  or  what  not,  leader- 
ship is  essential  or  nothing  will  be  accomplished.  Now,  as  a  matter  of 
observation,  there  never  was  a  community  quite  without  leadership,  and 
neither  is  Montgomery  County  without  it.  The  question  is  in  part  as 
to  the  efficiency  and  desirability  of  the  particular  leadership  found.  In 
general,  it  may  be  said  that  the  chief  weakness  of  the  county  from  this 
point  of  view  is  the  lack  of  efficient  leadership  among  the  farmers  them- 
selves. In  a  number  of  districts  the  evident  leaders  are  politicians; 
among  certain  groups  ministers  are  influential.  The  results  would,  how- 
ever, be  better  if  their  places  were  taken  by  successful,  well-equipped 
farmers.  In  some  sections,  to  be  sure,  farmers  of  this  type  are  influential 
and  in  quiet,  unostentatious  fashion  are  doing  much  to  promote  the 
general  welfare. 

Social  control  is  not  altogether  a  matter  of  direct  leadership.  Institu- 
tions and  organizations  and  the  operation  of  social  forces  of  \'arious  sorts 
are  frequently  of  more  importance,  and  it  is  so  in  this  case.  One  of  these 
controlling  forces,  probably  for  the  county  at  large  the  most  potent,  is 
politics.  The  county  is  known  as  a  Democratic  county,  but  the  voting 
strength  is  quite  evenly  divided,  and  political  lines  are  quite  sharply 

36 


drawn.  The  hand  of  politics  is  upon  almost  everything  in  the  county, 
and  not  always  for  good.  For  example,  the  schools,  here  as  throughout 
the  State,  are  distinctly  in  politics,  and  this  fact  is  the  bane  of  the  school 
system,  making  the  tenure  of  office  of  the  county  officials  uncertain  at 
best,  and  thus  adding  greatly  to  the  difficulty  of  carrying  out  a  permanent 
policy  of  school  management. 

After  politics,  other  forces  to  be  mentioned  are  religious  denomination- 
alism,  which  among  certain  classes  is  still  a  controlling  factor;  lodges 
and  clubs  have  a  power  of  their  own;  the  farmers'  clubs  deserve  special 
mention,  though  their  influence  is  geographically  limited,  as  there  are 
only  three  in  the  county  (except  in  Sandy  Spring,  which  throughout  this 
discussion  is  not  considered,  as  the  problem  there  is  a  distinctive  one). 
Two  of  the  three  are  limited  organizations  for  discussion  and  social  meet- 
ing; the  third  is  a  cooperative  association.  While  it  is  true  that  economic 
pressure  has  been  responsible  for  most  of  the  progress  in  the  direction  of 
scientific  farming,  nevertheless  these  clubs  have  been  directly  concerned 
in  giving  currency  to  many  advanced  ideas  and  improved  methods  of 
farm  management.  Lastly,  we  must  mention  a  factor  which  is  rather 
hard  to  gauge,  but  which  is  doubtless  exceedingly  important  in  certain 
districts,  notably  Gaithersburg,  Rockville,  Laytonsville,  Olney  and 
Wheaton,  and  parts  of  Colesville;  namely,  the  organization  of  the  com- 
munity into  social  classes.  This  will  be  discussed  more  in  detail  in  the 
succeeding  paragraph.  Here  let  us  remark  that  this  social  organization, 
where  it  is  definite  and  clear  cut,  is  probably  the  most  potent  of  all 
socially  controlling  forces. 

Social  and  Economic  Standards 

By  social  standards,  we  do  not  refer  primarily  to  the  groups  or  cliques 
of  those  who  in  any  given  community  actually  do  associate  together 
regularly,  but  rather  to  the  larger  recognized  groups,  or  strata  of  society, 
composed  of  those  who  would  or  could  associate  together;  to  those  classes 
distinctly  conscious  of  their  likeness  to  each  other  and  of  their  difference 
from  other  elements  of  the  social  whole.  By  economic  standards,  we 
refer  to  that  classification  of  a  community  which  one  would  make 
measuring  it  by  property  held,  by  income,  by  housing  conditions,  clothing, 
table  service,  etc.  Since  the  same  conditions  do  not  prevail  throughout 
the  county,  it  will  be  convenient  to  discuss  this  topic  by  districts,  making 
such  groupings  of  districts  as  conditions  warrant. 

Laytonsville.  Here  we  have  three  very  distinct  standards,  both  social 
and  economic,  and  the  lines  are  sharply  drawn.  One  class  is  that  group 
which  we  have  referred  to  as  lineal  descendants  of  the  "Old  South"; 
their  ancestors  were  of  the  slave-holding  aristocracy  and  the  present 
generation  maintains  their  traditions.     A  second  class  is  composed  partly 

37 


of  farm  owners,  partly  of  tenants,  including  a  number  who  have  come 
into  the  county  in  recent  years;  economically  the  future  belongs  to  this 
class  rather  than  to  the  other,  as  they  are  making  rapid  strides  toward 
prosperity.  A  third  class  is  comi)osed  largely  of  laborers,  or  of  tenants 
on  the  smaller  places;  their  prospects  economically  are  not  very  bright. 
Socially  there  is  little  or  no  opportunity  of  passing  from  one  class  to 
another.  Here,  and  generally  throughout  the  county,  there  are  classes 
among  the  negroes,  also,  usually  on  the  basis  of  prosperity  and  industry. 
Clarksburg,  Barnesvillc  and  Poolesville.  In  these  three  districts,  gen- 
erally sjieaking,  two  standards  are  maintained;  there  is  but  little  distinc- 
tion between  the  farm  owner  and  the  renter;  the  lines  are  not  closely 
drawn.  Throughout  the  upper  end  of  the  county  a  more  democratic 
spirit  prevails.  In  the  Poolesville  District  there  is  one  instance  of  a 
group,  not  different  from  those  around  them,  either  socially  or  economi- 
cally, but  nevertheless  very  homogeneous.  This  group,  now  the  third 
generation  from  the  original  settlers,  are  all  of  one  stock;  but  they  have 
at  the  present  time  reached  a  condition  which  probably  means  the 
ultimate  breaking  up  of  the  community,  as  the  young  men  are  moving 
out,  partly  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  farms  have  been  divided  as  much 
as  is  considered  profitable. 


COLORED  LODGE  HALL 
38 


Damascus.  Here  the  lines  are  more  loosely  drawn  than  anywhere 
else  in  the  county.  There  are  two  economic  standards,  but  practically 
only  one  social  standard. 

Colesville.  Part  of  this  district  belongs  properly  with  Sandy  Spring 
and  will  be  discussed  in  that  connection;  for  the  remainder  of  the  dis- 
trict, there  are  two  economic  standards,  but  hardly  more  than  one 
social  standard. 

Wheaton.  In  the  towns  there  is  very  largely  a  suburban  population 
maintaining  on  the  whole  but  one  standard,  socially  and  economically; 
the  only  distinction  here  would  be  between  this  class  and  the  laboring 
element.  In  that  part  of  the  district  which  is  farmed,  there  are  two 
distinct  standards. 

Gaithersburg.  Here  there  are  three  social  standards,  in  general  con- 
forming to  the  three  groups  of  farm-owners,  tenants,  and  laborers. 
These  lines  are  not  hard  and  fast,  and  are  easily  stepped  over;  one  great 
reason  for  this  is  that  for  15  or  20  years  most  of  the  young  people  have 
belonged  to  the  so-called  "middle"  class.  There  are  only  two  economic 
standards,  as  there  is  practically  no  difference  between  owner  and  tenant 
in  this  respect. 

Potomac  and  Darnestown.  The  conditions  here  are  much  the  same 
as  in  Damascus,  two  standard  economically  and  one  socially. 

Olney.  Part  of  this  district  should  be  classed  in  the  main  with  Lay- 
tonsville;  the  remainder  belongs  to  the  Sandy  Spring  neighborhood  and 
will  be  described  later. 

Bethesda.  The  situation  here  is  peculiar  owing  to  the  extensive  but 
rather  uneven  suburban  development,  and  is  hardly  of  sufficient  im- 
portance for  our  present  purpose  to  warrant  discussion. 

Rockville.  The  town  of  Rockville  has  its  own  standards  the  basis 
of  which  it  is  a  little  difficult  to  see.  For  the  remainder  of  the  district 
there  are  apparently  three  economic  and  three  social  standards. 

Outside  of  Rockville,  Laytonsville  and  Sandy  Spring  the  county 
appears  to  be,  from  the  point  of  view  of  our  present  discussion,  more  or 
less  in  a  stage  of  transition.  Now  it  is  common  experience  that  social 
institutions  prosper  best  in  communities  where  the  social  organization  is 
compact  and  definite,  whether  composite  or  not.  It  was  observed,  for 
example,  in  a  survey  of  53  communities  in  central  Pennsylvania,  that  the 
churches  had  their  greatest  difficulties  in  just  such  periods  of  transition, 
and  worked  with  greater  ease  and  efficiency  when  the  communities  had 
arrived  "through  industrial  development  at  a  clear  recognition  of  the 
composite  nature  of  social  life."  Here  the  movement  is  in  the  opposite 
direction,  but  the  point  holds  that  social  institutions  prosper  best  where 
the  organization  is  compact.  In  the  discussion  of  recreation  and  social 
life  it  will  be  discovered  that  the  most  highly  developed  communities  in 

39 


this  respect  are  communities  of  this  tyj^e.  The  great  danger  here,  of 
course,  is  that  only  one  stratum  of  society  will  be  provided  for,  which  is, 
in  fact,  exactly  what  has  happened. 

Leveling  Influences 

An  interesting  question  is  how  these  class  lines  are  maintained  and 
what  forces  are  operating  to  break  them  down.  The  chief  reason  for 
their  maintenance  appears  to  be  that  in  the  communities  where  they  are 
maintained  the  entire  community  seldom  if  ever  acts  as  a  unit.  The 
group  within  the  community  acts  as  a  unit,  thus  heightening  its  o\^^^  class 
consciousness;  it  expresses  itself  through  its  own  institutions,  its  own 
churches,  its  own  clubs  and  societies,  and,  in  the  past  to  a  considerable 
extent,  its  own  schools.  There  has  been  very  little  intermarriage  with 
other  groups  not  similarly  situated.  In  consequence,  no  forces  have  ever 
been  set  in  motion  which  would  tend  to  break  down  these  standards,  and 
they  have  been  carried  on  by  sheer  momentum.  In  the  other  districts, 
where  the  transition  is  now  taking  place,  the  conditions  have  been  differ- 
ent. In  the  first  place,  there  has  been  no  such  compact  group  to  start 
with  and,  hence,  not  so  much  resistance  to  disintegrating  forces.  One 
prime  consideration  here,  moreover,  has  been  economic.  Many  influences, 
chief  among  them  improved  methods  of  farming  and  better  mar- 
keting facilities,  have  operated  to  place  the  different  groups  more  nearly 
upon  an  economic  equality.  This  has  meant  more  nearly  equal  oppor- 
tunities for  education,  culture,  and  the  cultivation  of  refinement  of  taste. 
This  has  led  the  communities  to  act  more  as  wholes,  and  churches  and 
lodges  and  schools  have  come  in  as  leveling  influences.  Also,  what 
facilities  for  recreation  and  social  life  existed  must  have  the  support  of 
practically  the  entire  community  to  thrive,  and  these  assemblings  in 
common  have  tended,  especially  among  the  young  people,  to  break  down 
class  distinctions.     This  last  deserves  a  more  extended  notice. 

Assemblies  Attended  in  Common  by  the  Community 

At  the  outset  we  may  except  Laytonsville  and  Olney  Districts  from  this 
discussion,  for  in  those  districts  there  are,  apparently,  no  assemblies  so 
attended.  For  the  remainder  of  the  county,  the  first  assembly  to  be 
mentioned  and  the  chief  of  them  all,  is  the  picnic,  usually  given  by  the 
church,  but  sometimes  by  the  lodge,  and  frequently  referred  to  as  the 
"political  picnic."  These  picnics  are  a  great  institution;  everybody  goes 
to  them,  including  the  politicians,  who  during  a  campaign  year  utilize 
them  for  campaign  purposes.  Then,  too,  oyster  suppers  and  strawberry 
festivals  flourish  like  the  green  bay  tree  and  are  always  cordially  sup- 
ported. In  many  parts  of  the  county  home-talent  plays  are  a  frequent 
form  of  entertainment  and  are  very  generally  attended.     Rockville  has 

40 


a  moving  picture  show  and  the  "movies"  know  no  class  lines.  The 
County  Fair  is  another  event  that  draws  its  patronage  from  nearly  the 
entire  county  and  from  all  classes. 


SOCIAL   WELFARE 
Public  Health 

The  county  health  officer  has  the  general  oversight  of  the  public  health 
for  all  of  the  county,  except  the  Olney  District  and  the  town  of  Takoma 
Park.  The  Olney  District  has  its  local  board  of  health,  chartered  by  the 
State  Legislature;  the  town  of  Takoma  Park  is  under  the  supervision  of 
the  health  officer  of  the  District  of  Columbia.  (For  principal  causes 
of  death  see  Tables  Nos.  12  and  13  and  note,  Appendix  page  III.) 
The  vital  statistics  for  the  county  (Olney  included,  but  Takoma  Park 
excluded)  are  as  follows  for  the  year  191 1,  January  i  to  December  31 
inclusive: 

Birth  rate,  white  (per  1,000  inhabitants) 14.8 

Birth  rate,  colored  (per  1,000  inhabitants) 15 .3 

Death  rate,  white  (per  1,000  inhabitants) 7.8 

Death  rate,  colored  (per  1,000  inhabitants) 14.5 

The  birth  rate,  it  will  be  noticed,  is  rather  low,  but  the  death  rate  is 
also  low.  The  death  rate  for  the  United  States,  year  1910,  was  14.7 
as  against  9.7  for  Montgomery  County  (both  white  and  colored  popu- 
lation). This  low  death  rate  bears  out  the  observation  of  the  inves- 
tigators that  the  average  length  of  life  seemed  unusually  great.  It  is 
also  significant  that  the  death  rate  of  the  negroes  is  almost  double 
that  of  the  whites,  while  the  birth  rate  is  only  slightly  higher. 

The  County  Alms  House 

This  is  located  on  the  Falls  Road  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  town  of 
Rockville.  The  building  contains  seven  rooms  and  two  halls  with  a 
basement;  there  is  a  room  for  white  women  and  another  for  white  men; 
one  for  colored  women  and  one  for  colored  men;  one  for  married  couples; 
one  for  a  crippled  colored  woman;  one  for  tramps  (in  the  basement); 
there  are  two  dining  rooms,  two  bath  rooms  and  two  toilets.  The 
farm  contains  140  acres,  and  has  been  poorly  worked  heretofore. 
The  inmates  do  not  help  in  the  farm  work,  being  either  physically  or 
mentally  incompetent.  At  the  time  the  investigators  visited  the  Alms 
House  it  contained  24  inmates,  12  white  (6  male  and  6  female)  and  12 
colored  (also  6  male  and  6  female,  including  3  children).  Under  the 
present  management,  the  place  is  well  kept  and  the  inmates  are  given 
proper  care  and  good  treatment. 

41 


Average  Age  of  Marriage 

For  the  white  farming  population,  the  average  age  at  which  the  man 
marries  is  25.7  years  and  the  woman,  21.6  years;  for  the  colored  popu- 
lation, the  ages  are  respectively,  28.5  and  22.2  years.  These  averages 
as  compared  with  the  averages  in  counties  surveyed  in  other  states 
are  high,  fully  a  year  above  the  averages  in  Kentucky  and  3  years  above 
the  averages  in  Missouri.  Reference  to  the  chart  on  the  age  of  farmers 
and  to  the  discussion  on  that  point  will  suggest  one  reason  for  this — 
namely  that  the  difficulty  of  the  young  farmer  in  acquiring  land  without 
going  in  debt  for  it  postpones  marriage. 

Housing  Conditions 

No  ver>'  intensive  survey  was  made  of  the  housing  conditions  but  a 
few  general  observations  may  be  ventured  as  in  point  here.  Our  in- 
terest is  primarily  in  the  farm  homes.  If  we  were  to  compare  Mont- 
gomery County  with  the  average  farming  community  of  the  Middle 
West,  it  would  be  safe  to  say  that  on  the  whole  Montgomery  County 
has  from  25  to  50%  better  housing  conditions.  Here  the  story-and-a- 
half,  relatively  unpainted  frame  house  of  weather-beaten  aspect,  that 
graces  so  many  country  roads  in  such  profusion,  is  almost  unknown. 
Its  place  is  taken  by  a  large,  freshly  painted,  two  or  three-story  house 
which  is  both  commodious  and  comfortable  and  equipped  with  many 
modern  conveniences.  In  the  upper  end  of  the  county  the  homes  are 
on  the  average  a  little  smaller.  For  the  entire  county,  probably  the 
homes  of  the  farm  owners  would  average  seven  or  eight  rooms.  Ninety- 
five  per-cent.  of  them  are  painted.  A  fair  proportion  are  supplied  with 
water  by  windmill  or  ram  or  engine.  Sanitar}/  conveniences  are  excell- 
ent. The  homes  of  the  farm-tenants,  for  the  county  as  a  whole,  are 
smaller;  probably  not  more  than  60%  are  painted.  The  homes  of  the 
colored  farmers,  while  considerably_^below  the  average  for  the  white 
farmers,  are  well  above  the  average^for  colored  farmers_in  many  other 
sections  of  the  country,      j    |  ,    i 

On  almost  all  the  farms  a  distinct  effort  has  been  made  to  beautify 
the  homes  and  the  home-surroundings.  One  sees  an  unusual  number 
of  well-kept  lawns,  with  an  abundance  of  shade  trees,  shrubbery,  and 
flowers.  In  general,  the  household  furnishings  huxe  beauty  in  mind  as 
well  as  utility.  Probably  a  third  of  the  homes  have  musicalinstruments 
of  some  sort. 

Institutions  of  Public  Importance 

There  are  four  large,  well-equipped  sanitariums  in  the  county.  One 
of  these  is  devoted  to  the  open  air  treatment  of  all  forms  of  tuberculosis; 
a  second  is  given  over  to  the  treatment  of  nervous  and  mental  diseases, 

42 


including  mild  forms  of  insanity;  the  other  two  are  general  in  their 
scope. 

There  are  several  circulating  or  public  libraries  in  the  county;  one, 
Takoma  Park,  has  just  been  housed  in  a  fine  $40,000  building.  This 
latter  is  a  Carnegie  Library,  a  branch  of  Washington  City  Library;  the 
building  stands  in  the  district  of  Columbia,  but  is  patronized  by  Mont- 
gomery County  people  from  Silver  Spring  down  to  the  district  line. 
Rockville  has  a  small  museum,  apparently  but  little  used. 

Community  Improvements 

The  suburban  sections  of  the  county  are  of  course  still  very  much 
in  the  process  of  making,  but  throughout  the  county  more  or  less  build- 
ing has  been  going  on  continuously.  Twenty-six  new  school  houses 
have  been  built  during  the  last  six  years,  20  of  them  having  two  or  more 
rooms.  At  least  two  of  these  were  built  with  the  local  assistance  of 
their  patrons.  There  are  a  number  of  Town  Halls  in  the  county  which 
were  built  by  subscription,  and  several  of  these  have  been  put  up  within 
five  years.  Money  is  now  being  raised  for  one  in  the  Darnestown 
District.  The  Knights  of  Pythias  Hall  in  Gaithersburg,  a  fine,  large 
brick  building,  was  built  quite  recently.  Other  buildings  put  up  within 
a  few  years  which  particularly  deserve  mention  are  the  Baptist  Church 
and  the  Sunday-school  building  of  the  Southern  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  at  Rockville,  the  Episcopal  Churches  at  Laytonsville  and  Olney, 
the  Club  House  of  the  Chevy  Chase  Country  Club,  the  Chevy  Chase 
Presbyterian  Church,  the  building  of  the  Montgomery  County  National 
Bank  at  Rockville,  of  the  National  Bank  and  Savings  Bank  at  Sandy 
Spring,  and  of  the  Fire  Insurance  Company  at  Sandy  Spring. 

Local  Option 

In  1880  the  county  voted  upon  the  question  of  local  option,  and  the 
vote  was  in  favor  of  prohibition;  the  fight  was  a  bitter  one,  but  every 
district  in  the  county  gave  Prohibition  at  least  a  small  majority. 
This  went  into  effect  the  following  year  and  has  remained  in  force  ever 
since.  Of  recent  years,  the  law  has  been  fairly  well  enforced.  A  con- 
siderable amount  of  liquor  is  shipped  or  otherwise  brought  into  the 
County  from  Washington;  the  "locker"  system  is  in  force  at  one  or  two 
club  houses;  but  there  is  little  or  no  open  selling. 

Newspapers 

Three  newspapers  are  published  in  the  county,  two  in  Rockville, 
and  one  in  Kensington.  Of  these,  one  is  a  Republican  paper  and  the 
other  two  are  Democratic.     Each  issues  one  edition  a  week. 

43 


Crime  and  Law-Suits 

The  county  is  about  normal  in  respect  to  the  amount  of  crime  com- 
mitted. Each  term  of  court  averages  about  one  murder  case,  and  the 
usual  run  of  petty  and  grand  larceny  cases.  Automobile-speeding  has 
furnished  a  considerable  number  of  cases,  especially  in  view  of  the  auto- 
mobile war  waged  between  Maryland  and  the  District  of  Columbia. 
To  an  outsider,  there  would  seem  to  be  more  than  an  ordinary  amount 
of  litigation  over  property,  but  what  this  might  argue  for  the  temper 
of  the  people  we  would  not  venture  to  say. 

ORGANIZATIONS 

The  county  is  very  unevenly  organized,  both  as  regards  Secret  Fra- 
ternal Organizations  and  Open  Organizations  or  Clubs.  In  this  dis- 
cussion, as  elsewhere  in  this  section,  Sandy  Spring  is  not  considered  nor 
included  in  the  totals  for  the  Olney  District,  with  the  exception  of  the 
Olney  Grange,  which  is  largely  supported  by  Sandy  Spring. 

Secret  Fraternal  Organizations 

The  social  importance  of  these  societies  is  not  usually  very  great; 
in  most  of  them  the  insurance  feature  is  the  most  important  aspect. 
The  attendance  at  their  meetings  is  a  small  proportion  of  their  member- 
ship; for  all  lodges  in  the  county  not  more  than  15%  of  the  member- 
ship are  in  attendance  at  any  given  session.  The  total  number  of 
local  organizations  is  29,  representing  9  varieties,  located  in  12  dis- 
tricts, with  an  aggregate  membership  of  1,744.  Only  one  district, 
Barnesville,  is  without  one  or  more  local  branches;  a  number  of  the 
residents  of  this  District  belong  to  lodges  in  adjoining  districts.  Tables 
Nos.  14  and  15  (Appendix,  pages  IV  and  V),  give  the  number  of 
organizations  and  aggregate  membership,  one  by  the  kind  of  organ- 
ization, and   the  other  by  districts. 

Open  Fraternal  Organizations  or  Clubs 

111  respect  to  these  organizations,  the  county  is  much  more  unex'cnly 
organized  than  is  the  case  as  regards  Secret  Societies.  These,  more- 
o\-er,  are  of  much  greater  social  importance.  Excluding  certain  organi- 
zations which  are  of  more  than  local  importance  (discussed  in  the  suc- 
ceeding paragraph);  also  three  Country  Clubs  with  a  membership  of 
1,938,  in  the  Bethesda  District,  which  draw  their  patronage  so  largely 
from  without  the  county  that  we  need  not  be  concerned  with  them 
here,  there  are  40  organizations  (Tables  Nos.  16  and  17,  and  following 
note,  Appendix,  pages  IV  and  V),  having  a  total  membership  of  969 
(including  3  Athletic  Associations  which  have  no  definite  memberhip); 
the  total  average  attendance  is  580  (5  have  no  stated  meetings).  The 
attendance  of  those  having  stated  meetings  is  71%  of  the  membership. 

44 


COLORED   SCHOOL,   LODGE   HALL   AND   CHURCH 

Societies  of  More  Than  Local  Interest 

There  are  a  number  of  organizations  in  the  county  which  deserve 
mention  but  which  can  hardly  be  said  to  have  immediate  social  import- 
ance for  any  one  locality.  The  following  may  be  cited:  The  IV.  C.  T.  U. 
has  nine  local  branches  in  the  county  located  respectively  at  Spencer- 
ville,  Laytonsville,  Rockville,  Colesville,  Travillah,  Kensington,  Sandy 
Spring,  Brighton  and  Oakdale;  the  work  is  conducted  along  the  lines 
usually  followed  by  this  organization;  the  Anti-Saloon  League;  the 
Montgomery  County  Suffrage  Association;  the  United  Daughters  of  the 
Confederacy;  The  Janet  Montgomery  D.  A .  R.  Chapter;  the  Montgomery 
County  Medical  Society,  of  which  all  but  three  of  the  physicians  in  the 
county  are  members;  the  Montgomery  County  Federation  of  Woman's 
Clubs,  which  includes  twelve  local  organizations;  and  the  Montgomery 
County  Social  Service  League.  This  last  deserves  a  more  extended 
notice,  though  its  work  is  important  for  public  health  and  well-being 
rather  than  for  social  life.  This  League,  which  was  formed  in  1908, 
has  for  its  objects:  "to  assist  in  the  care  of  the  poor,  of  the  sick,  especi- 
ally tuberculosis  cases,  and  of  destitute  and  deficient  children  in  the 
county;  to  direct  public  attention  to  the  causes  and  the  prevention  of 
disease  and  suffering,  and  to  arouse  general  interest  in  securing  proper 
provisions  for  the  needy  in  their  homes  and  in  institutions."  It  was  the 
first  association  of  its  kind  to  be  formed  in  the  state,  and  from  the  start 
has  had  generous  support.  At  the  present  time  it  is  supporting  a 
resident  tuberculosis  nurse-,  who  gives  her  entire  time  to  visiting  the  homes 
of  the  poor  and  instructing  them  in  the  care  of  the  sick. 

45 


Negro  Societies 

The  investigators,  with  the  time  at  their  disposal,  couhl  not  undertake 
the  task  of  ol)taining  detailed  and  accurate  information  concerning  the 
Negro  Lodges  and  Clubs;  there  are  too  many  of  them  and  they  are  too 
hard  to  discover.  The  Colored  Church,  School,  and  Lodge  Hall  compose 
a  group  of  buildings  freciucntly  come  upon  through  the  county;  benevol- 
ent societies  thrive,  and  they  care  for  you  when  sick,  bury  you,  and 
look  after  your  family.  There  are  also  many  lodges  and  societies  of  other 
sorts.  These  all  Y)\-dy  a  prominent  part  in  the  social  life  of  the  negroes, 
more  prominent  jjrobably  than  the  similar  organizations  do  for  the  whites. 

As  to  the  Distribution  of  Organizations 

If  the  assumption  is  a  valid  one  that  the  Secret  Fraternal  Organiza- 
tions ha^•e  relati\'ely  little  social  importance  and  that  the  open  organiza- 
tions or  clubs  afford  the  better  index  of  the  social  life,  then  certain 
significant  conclusions  seem  safely  established,  (a)  The  social  organi- 
zation of  the  county  is  highly  uneven  as  regards  geographical  distribu- 
tion. Four  districts  are  altogether  without  societies,  and  a  fifth  has 
only  two  athletic  associations.  57%  of,  the  existent  societies  are  in  the 
suburban  sections.  (It  must  be  remembered  that  Sandy  Spring  is 
being  excluded  from  this  present  discussion).  All  of  the  Scientific 
Clubs  and  Citizen's  Improvement  Associations  are  in  these  suburban 
sections.  The  best  organized  localities  are  those  with  the  best  trans- 
portation facilities  and  the  best  roads,  (b)  Only  a  small  proportion 
of  the  i)opulation  in  any  instance  is  provided  for  in  these  organizations. 
There  are  no  societies  for  the  laboring  and  tenant  classes;  the  existent 
societies  are  those  of  the  farm  owners  and  town  folk,  (c)  It  will  be 
pointed  out  in  the  succeeding  section  that  these  conditions  are  paralleled 
with  respect  to  existing  recreation  facilities  and  developed  social  life, 
those  districts  which  are  deficient  with  respect  to  organization  being 
deficient  in  both  those  respects  also. 

RECREATION   AND   SOCIAL   LIFE 

"The  things  we  do,  when  we  do  what  we  please,  are  vitally  related 
not  only  to  health,  but  also  to  morality  and  the  whole  development  of 
the  finer  self.  The  forms  of  our  pleasure-seeking  disclose  what  we  really 
are.  Those  nations  which  devoted  their  leisure  to  re-creating  health 
and  building  up  beautiful  bodies  have  tended  to  survive,  while  those 
which  turned,  in  the  marginal  hours,  to  dissipation  ha\-e  written  for  us 
the  history  of  national  downfall.  A  daily  life  in  which  there  is  no  time 
for  recreation  may  be  fraught  with  as  much  exil  as  a  leisure  given  over 
to  a  futile  frittering  away  of  energ>'."  (Dr.  Luther  H.  Gulick).  The 
day  has  passed  when  there  is  need  of  advancing  to  thoughtful  students 

46 


of  social  problems  an  argument  as  to  the  necessity  for  recreation  in  the 
culture  of  well-rounded  manhood  and  womanhood.  Yet  this  problem 
of  recreation  remains  one  of  the  vital  rural  problems.  The  city  also 
has  its  recreation  problem,  but  the  initial  terms  of  the  problem  are  not 
so  serious  as  in  the  country,  for  congestion  lends  itself  to  the  solution 
more  readily  than  isolation. 

It  is  not  our  present  purpose  to  attempt  anything  more  than  a  descrip- 
tion of  existing  conditions,  which  will  include  a  discussion  of  the  types 
of  recreation  offered  and  the  agencies  by  which  offered.  All  of  the 
county  except  the  Sandy  Spring  neighborhood  will  be  considered. 

Types  of  Recreation 

Athletics.  Baseball  is  played  quite  generally  throughout  the  county. 
The  larger  schools  have  organized  teams,  playing  with  each  other  and  to 
some  extent  with  teams  from  Washington  City.  Rockville,  Gaithersburg, 
Brookville  and  Sandy  Spring  High  Schools  are  the  most  important  in  this 
respect.  There  were  last  season  eight  organized  town  teams,  playing 
one  game  each  per  week;  admission  was  charged  and  crowds  of  100  or 
more  were  usually  in  attendance.  Four  of  these  teams  were  organized 
into  a  league;  this,  however,  will  not  be  the  case  this  year.  Probably, 
there  is  more  playing  in  Clarksburg,  Boyds,  Germantown,  Gaithersburg, 
Washington  Grove,  Rockville  and  Kensington  than  elsewhere  in  the 
county.  Laytonsville  town  usually  has  one  game  a  month.  In  Pooles- 
ville,  Colesville,  Darnestown,  Potomac,  Barnesville,  Damascus  and 
Bethesda  Districts,  there  is  little  or  no  organized  playing,  but  there  are 
scrub  teams  which  play  in  the  fields  on  Saturdays  or  Sundays,  and  at  the 
picnics. 

Basketball  is  played  in  several  of  the  schools;  there  are  also  two  town 
teams,  in  Rockville  and  Gaithersburg.  Football  is  played  in  the  Rock- 
ville and  Gaithersburg  schools  to  some  extent,  and  Kensington  has  a 
town  team;  this  game,  however,  is  not  very  popular.  Soccer  is  played 
to  an  even  less  extent.  The  larger  schools  do  more  or  less  track  work, 
occasionally  entering  teams  in  State  meets.  A  meet  is  held  at  Washington 
Grove  every  summer,  in  which  not  only  the  county  athletes  but  athletes 
from  various  parts  of  the  State  and  from  neighboring  States  participate. 

Tennis  is  played  in  various  sections,  particularly  in  the  Rockville, 
Darnestown,  Olney,  Gaithersburg,  Wheaton  and  Bethesda  districts. 
Tournaments  are  often  held,  both  for  particular  sections  and  for  the 
county.  Croquet  (if  this  can  be  called  a  form  of  athletics)  is  played  in 
the  Potomac  District,  and  here  and  there  throughout  the  county. 
Roque  and  quoits  are  played  at  Washington  Grove. 

Theatricals.  Home-talent  plays  are  very  popular  in  at  least  eight  dis- 
tricts in  the  county.     These  are  given  by  churches,  schools,  lodges  or 

47 


athletic  associations.  They  are  generally  well  supported,  in  the  main 
reporting  "capacity  houses."  Rockville,  Gaithersburg,  Laytonsville  and 
Clarksburg  seem  the  fondest  of  this  form  of  diversion.  Minstrel  shows 
are  also  occasionally  given.  The  type  of  play  usually  employed  is  the 
light  comedy,  clean  and  quite  above  reproach,  but  of  al^solutely  no 
literary  or  dramatic  merit.  The  investigators  attended  several  of  these 
])erformances  and  found  them  highly  enjoyable,  their  chief  regret  being 
that  with  such  a  wealth  of  dramatic  material  to  draw  from,  plays  of  so 
inconsequential  a  sort  were  invariably  selected. 

Once  or  twice  a  year  some  traveling  stock  company  will  appear  in  one 
of  the  public  halls  and  present  some  inexpressibly  poor  "show"  (one 
could  hardly  call  it  drama).  Rockville  has  a  moving  picture  show,  open 
one  or  two  nights  a  week.  This  presents  a  good  quality  of  films,  all 
approved  by  the  National  Board  of  Censorship,  and  is  reasonably  well 
patronized. 

Dancing  and  Card  Playing.  Laytonsville  has  a  few  private  subscrip- 
tion dances  each  year,  but  no  public  dances.  Clarksburg  district  has  a 
dance  a  month,  at  Boyds,  attended  by  about  fifteen  to  twenty  couples; 
there  are  usually  dances  at  the  picnics  attended  by  a  hundred  couples. 
Poolesville  town  has  a  dance  a  week  during  the  winter,  at  the  hall, 
attended  by  twenty-five  to  fifty  couples;  there  is  no  charge  except  for 
expenses.  Rockville  has  private  dances  at  the  hall,  and  dances  at  the 
club  house  for  members;  the  latter  are  invitation  dances.  Colesville 
district  has  an  occasional  dance  given  by  the  lodge.  Few  dances  are 
held  in  the  Darnestown  district,  but  10%  of  the  young  people  attend 
those  given  at  Boyds  and  Gaithersburg.  In  the  Olney  district  a  number 
of  dances  are  given  in  the  course  of  the  year  at  private  homes  and  in  the 
Grange  halls  at  Olney  and  Brighton.  In  Gaithersburg  both  public  and 
private  dances  are  given  at  the  Masonic  Hall.  Potomac  has  three  or 
four  a  year  at  the  Great  Falls  Hotel,  and  several  at  the  Knights  of 
Pythias  Hall;  there  is  also  dancing  at  the  Catholic  picnic.  In  Barnes- 
\\\\c  there  are  public  dances  at  the  picnics;  private  dances  are  also  given. 
In  Wheaton  most  of  the  towns  along  the  railroad  have  frequent  dances 
during  the  winter;  these  are  usually  invitation  affairs.  There  is  less 
dancing  in  Damascus  district  than  elsewhere  in  the  county. 

There  are  card  clubs  in  the  Laytonsville,  Poolesville,  Rockville  and 
Wheaton  districts.  Elsewhere  there  is  considerable  playing  privately, 
less  in  the  Damascus  district  than  anywhere  else  in  the  county. 

Lectures  and  Public  Entertainments.  Lectures  are  not  very  much  in 
N'ogue  in  the  county.  Washington  Grove  has  a  number  in  connection 
with  its  summer  Chautauqua.  A  number  of  towns  in  the  W^heaton 
district  have  frequent  lectures,  usually  to  restricted  audiences  in  clubs. 
Elsewhere  they  are  very  infrequent  now,  though  in  general  they  were 

48 


much  more  frequent  and  much  more  popular  fifteen  or  twenty  years  ago. 
Public  entertainments,  other  than  theatrical  performances,  are  not  much 
more  common.  Takoma  Park  and  Kensington  usually  have  a  number 
of  musical  entertainments  or  illustrated  talks  during  the  winter.  Wash- 
ington Grove  has  them  on  its  Chautauqua  program.  Churches  or  schools 
in  other  places  give  occasional  public  entertainments,  which  will  be 
taken  up  more  in  detail  in  the  church  and  school  sections. 

Suppers,  Festivals,  etc.  For  most  of  the  churches  in  the  county  the 
festive  strawberry  and  oyster  are  the  first  aids  to  the  budget;  the  lodges 
also  require  their  assistance.  It  would  be  difficult  to  estimate  the  total 
number  of  oyster  suppers,  strawberry  festivals  and  lawn  parties  given 
in  the  county  in  the  course  of  the  year.  Practically  all  of  the  organiza- 
tions which  require  money  give  them,  and  in  spite  of  their  number, 
throughout  the  county,  75  to  100  people  or  more  can  usually  be  gotten 
out  to  such  an  event. 

Fairs.  Very  frequently  the  fair  is  combined  with  the  oyster  supper  or 
strawberry  festival  or  church  picnic.  Probably  there  are  thirty  or  forty 
such  fairs  in  the  county  during  a  year.  The  annual  agricultural  fair  at 
Rockville  has  already  been  mentioned. 

Picnics.  As  was  said  in  another  connection,  a  great  number  of  picnics 
are  given  during  the  year  by  churches  and  lodges;  the  total  number  for 
the  county  is  probably  over  60.  The  largest  is  usually  the  Catholic 
picnic  in  the  Barnesville  district,  which  is  often  attended  by  as  many  as 
5,000  people.  The  average  attendance  for  all  picnics  is  probably  about 
150.  Many  features  are  combined  with  the  picnics,  such  as  dancing, 
baseball,  sales  of  candy,  refreshments  and  other  things,  and  (sometimes) 
raflles  and  similar  money-making  devices.  The  only  districts  where 
these  picnics  are  apparently  not  a  prominent  and  popular  feature  of  the 
social  life  are  the  Olney  and  Bethesda  distncts. 

Amusement  Parks,  Chautauquas  and  Resorts.  Washington  Grove  in 
the  Gaithersburg  district  is  the  only  strictly  summer  resort  in  the  county. 
This  resort  occupies  200  acres  of  ground,  and  is  very  pleasantly  situated. 
Among  its  attractions  may  be  enumc-ated  its  Chautauqua  program  of 
12  lectures  and  concerts,  its  athletic  association,  allied  with  the  South 
Atlantic  division  of  the  A.  A.  U.  and  furnished  with  a  finely  equipped 
athletic  field,  its  annual  athletic  carnival,  its  10-day  camp  meeting,  con- 
ducted by  its  committee  on  religious  services,  and  its  kindergarten. 

There  is  a  large  amusement  park  at  Glen  Echo  in  the  Bethesda  Dis- 
trict, occupying  a  huge  stone  ampitheater  which  was  built  for  Chau- 
tauqua purposes  but  has  not  been  so  used  for  many  years.  Cabin  John 
is  somewhat  of  a  resort,  and  Chevy  Chase  Lake  with  its  frequent  band- 
concerts  in  the  summer  is  very  popular.  These  three  draw  much  of 
their  patronage  from  Washington. 

49 


Hunting  and  Fishing.  There  is  a  Fox  Hunters'  Association  in  the 
count}-  which  holds  a  field  trial  every  fall  in  the  upper  end  of  the  county. 
This  is  always  very  largely  attended.  There  is  also  a  Hunt  Club  in 
Che\y  Chase  which  maintains  a  pack  of  hounds.  A  considerable 
amount  of  fox  hunting  is  done  altogether,  chiefiy  around  Rockville, 
between  Coles\illr  iind  Brighton,  and  in  the  Poolesville  District.  There 
is  also  some  coon  hunting. 

There  is  excellent  fishing  in  the  Potomac  River,  particularly  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  Great  Falls,  and  this  is  a  favorite  pastime  with  many, 
especially  in  the  Potomac  District. 

Miscellaneous.  Rockville  has  the  only  public  pool  room  in  the 
county;  there  are  no  bowling  alleys.  Pool  and  billiards  are  played 
privately  to  a  certain  extent.  Flinch  and  crockinole  are  said  to  be 
pojiular  in  the  Potomac  and  Darnestown  Districts. 

Agencies  Furnishing  Recreation  Facilities.  In  general,  it  will  be 
noticed  that  there  is  no  agency  which  feels  impelled  to  furnish  recrea- 
tion facilities  out  of  any  sense  of  its  obligation  to  the  community.  It 
is  not  a  desire  for  service  but  a  need  for  money  that  pushes  the  church 
and  the  lodge  into  this  field.  The  fact  that  they  do  perform  a  public 
service  in  providing  recreation  is  quite  incidental  to  the  fact  that  they 
find  this  a  convenient  way  to  raise  funds.  Such  facilities  as  do  not 
owe  their  existence  to  this  circumstance  are  the  results  of  the  efforts 
of  individuals  or  of  groups  organized  for  that  purpose,  such  as  card- 
clubs,  athletic  associations,  etc. 

General  Characteristics 

In  respect  to  recreation  facilities  as  in  respect  to  social  organization, 
conditions  through  the  county  seem  to  be  somewhat  uneven.  Certain 
districts  or  parts  of  districts  seem  to  have  inadequate  local  facilities, 
notably  Potomac,  Darnestown,  Damascus,  and  parts  of  Colesville  and 
Wheaton.  Throughout  the  county,  there  seems  to  be  little  provision 
made  for  the  laboring  classes  and  others  less  favorably  situated;  this 
of  course  results  from  the  fact  which  we  have  mentioned  that  there  are 
no  agencies  concerned  to  furnish  recreation  for  its  own  sake,  so  that 
those  who  because  of  economic  circumstances,  lack  of  personal  initia- 
tive or  some  other  cause  can  not  provide  their  own  recreation  facilities, 
are  left  without.  These,  too,  are  the  classes  upon  which  the  church 
and  the  lodge  have  the  slightest  hold. 

In   general,   the   recreation   furnished   the    various   communities    is 
clean  and  wholesome.     There  is  a  little  gambling  among  certain  sets 
some  of  the  jMcnics  and  a  few  of  the  dances  are  accompanied  by  drinking 
But  on  the  whole,  there  is  little  that  is  objectionable  and  much  that  is 
commendable.     At  one  time,  Cabin  John  was  popularly  described  as 

50 


SANDY  SPRING  HIGH   SCHOOL   BASEBALL   TEAM 


"A  Sunday  Booze  Resort  for  Washington  Toughs";  this  was  broken  up, 
however,  and  there  is  nothing  approaching  that  to  be  found  in  the 
county  now. 

Social  Life 

Not  much  needs  to  be  added  under  this  head.  Broadly  speaking,  the 
communities  which  are  definitely  organized  are  apt  to  be  very  social 
communities;  those  which  are  not  are  correspondingly  less  so.  In  the 
suburban  sections,  circumstances  are  different  from  elsewhere  in  the 
county.  The  suburb  is  "neither  flesh,  fish  nor  fowl";  it  differs  from 
the  city  and  the  country  alike.  In  communities  here  which  have  been 
settled  up  for  some  time  and  by  a  fairly  homogeneous  group,  there 
is  considerable  local  social  life;  Kensington  is  a  case  in  point  here. 
In  other  sections  where  the  population  is  more  shifting,  more 
recent  or  more  diverse,  there  is  little  social  life.  Along  the  District 
of  Columbia  line,  in  Takoma  Park  and  parts  of  Bethesda,  there  is  con- 
siderable social  dependence  upon  Washington;  here,  though,  there  is 
coming  to  be  more  local  social  life.  The  many  Citizens'  Improvement 
Associations  are  encouraging  this.  Throughout  the  county,  the  same 
classes  which  we  have  said  were  practically  without  social  organization 
and  recreation  facilities,  are  also  practically  without  social  life  of  any  sort. 

51 


52 


SANDY   SPRING    NEIGHBORHOOD 

Sandy  Spring  is  not  a  town  or  village  or  civil  division  of  any  sort, 
but  a  natural  division,  a  neighborhood,  whose  people  are  united  by  the 
bonds  of  religion  and  bloodkinship,  and  contrasted  more  or  less  sharply 
with  the  people  of  the  adjoining  territory  by  differences  of  thought, 
feeling  and  custom.  The  first  settlement  was  made  by  the  Society  of 
Friends  and  the  community  has  always  been  under  their  predominant 
influence.  The  limits  of  the  section  at  present  occupied  by  this  com- 
munity are  clearly  defined.  Most  of  the  territory  lies  within  the  Olney 
District,  but  a  part  of  the  Colesville  District,  as  far  east  as  Spencerville 
is  included.  The  real  centre  of  the  community  is  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  Sandy  Spring  Post  Office  where  are  located  the  meeting  houses,  the 
school,  the  Lyceum  Hall,  the  old  library  and  the  banks,  institutions 
upon  which  the  life  of  the  community  has  been  built.  There  is  no  town 
or  railroad  within  10  miles  of  this  point. 

It  is  not  easy  to  say  just  when  the  first  settlement  was  made,  but  the 
earliest  land  records  date  from  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
having  to  do  with  grants  of  land  some  of  which  are  still  in  part  held  by 
the  families  to  which  they  were  originally  patented.  There  are  records 
of  a  considerable  number  of  land  transfers  prior  to  1750.  The  Friends' 
Meeting,  always  the  mainspring  of  the  community  life,  has  had  a  recorded 
existence  since  1753,  a  mention  of  it  being  contained  in  the  minutes  of 
the  Monthly  Meeting  at  the  Cliffs  and  Herring  Creek  under  that  date. 
Many  incidents  in  the  subsequent  history  of  this  community  are  highly 
important  for  an  understanding  of  its  present  and  would  be  exceedingly 
interesting;  but  we  can  only  pass  them  hastily  in  review.  Before  the 
opening  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  the  meeting  took  up  "the  testimony 
against  slavery";  1775  may  be  set  as  the  approximate  date  after  which 
there  was  no  settled  policy  of  slave  holding  in  Sandy  Spring.  Econo- 
mically, as  well  as  in  other  ways,  the  freeing  of  the  slaves  was  a  step 
attended  by  important  results,  and  the  subsequent  experiment  of  free- 
labor  owning  the  soil  proved  this  to  be  a  sounder  economic  policy  than 
the  slaveholding  system  which  it  displaced. 

Shortly  after  1830,  local  option  was  voted  for  the  territory  adjacent 
to  the  meeting  house,  nearly  50  years  before  it  was  voted  for  the  county 
as  a  whole.  And  it  is  safe  to  say  that  it  was  the  influence  of  this  com- 
minity,  working  through  those  many  years,  which  ultimately  brought 
about  the  victory  of  the  temperance  cause  in  the  county.  Many  in- 
stitutions, closely  associated  with  the  development  of  the  community 
life,  and  still  enjoying  a  flourishing  existence,  had  their  beginnings  about 
the_middle  of  the  nineteenth  century.  In  1842  a  Library  Company 
was_organized  and  a  library  started  at  Sandy  Spring.  In  1844  the  first 
Farmers'    Club  for  men,  and  in  1857  the  first  club  for  women  were 

53 


organized.  These  were  probably  the  earliest  societies  of  their  kind  to 
be  organized  in  the  United  States.  The  next  twenty  years  witnessed 
the  organization  of  four  other  societies.  In  1858  the  Lyceum  Stock 
Company  was  formed  and  the  Lyceum  Hall  was  built.  Here  began  one 
of  the  most  interesting  of  local  institutions.  It  was  found  difficult 
to  muster  a  quorum  for  the  annual  business  meeting  of  the  Stock  Com- 
pany. The  brilliant  idea  was  conceived  of  a])pointing  an  Annalist,  a 
neighborhood  historian,  who  should  keep  the  record  of  all  happenings 
and  read  that  record  at  each  annual  meeting.  The  first  historian  was 
appointed  in  1863.  It  was  the  wisdom  of  experience  that  knew  that 
people  always  like  to  hear,  themselves  talked  about.  The  annual  meet- 
ing ne^'e^  thereafter  lacked  a  quorum.  After  a  number  of  years  the 
annals  were  published  in  book  form;  three  volumes  have  been  issued  to 
date,  giving  the  history  of  Sandy  Spring  from  its  earliest  records.  And 
now,  after  50  years,  though  the  Lyceum  Hall  is  little  used,  the  Lyceum 
Stock  Company  is  a  flourishing  institution,  and  interest  in  the  annals 
is  as  keen  as  ever. 

The  Mutual  Fire  Insurance  Company  of  Montgomery  County  began 
operations  in  1848.  The  Savings  Institution  was  established  in  1868. 
The  first  turnpike  in  this  section  was  built  in  1860.  A  railroad  has  been 
"about  to  be  built  at  once"  for  more  than  fifty  years.  In  1872,  the 
first  annual  convention  of  Farmers'  Clubs  of  Montgomery  County  was 
held.  The  Olney  Grange  was  organized  at  about  this  time.  The 
Maryland  Woman's  Suffrage  Association  was  originated  here  in  1889. 
Something  of  the  significance  of  these  various  institutions,  all  of  which 
are  still  in  existence,  will  be  discussed  at  a  later  point.  The  interesting 
thing  to  be  noted  here  is  that  this  community  should  so  early  have 
de\-eloped  many  of  those  social  institutions  which  most  rural  districts, 
by  a  long  and  painful  process  of  education  are  just  now  being  brought 
to  see  the  vital  importance  of  and  that  it  should  have  maintained  them 
and  enlarged  them  as  it  has. 

There  is  much  that  is  interesting  also  in  the  economic  development 
of  the  community.  Beginning  with  soil  naturally  rather  poor,  it  sub- 
jected it  to  the  same  exhaustive  tobacco  cultivation  that  prevailed 
through  the  remainder  of  the  county.  Here,  as  elsewhere,  the  price  of 
land  dro])ped  to  a  very  low  figure,  reaching  its  lowest  point  about  1835. 
On  account  of  this  deterioration  of  the  soil  some  slight  tendency  to 
emigration  westward  appeared.  The  first  fertilizer  experiments  were 
made  about  this  time  with  lime.  In  1838  there  were  19  lime  kilns 
within  a  short  radius,  the  stone  being  brought  5  to  10  miles.  Subse- 
quent experiments  demonstrated  the  value  of  bone-dust.  In  1844, 
Peruvian  Guano  was  introduced.  The  new  methods  of  agriculture 
which  followed  these  experiments  ushered  in  a  period  of  rapidly  in- 

54 


creasing  prosperity.  To-day  the  soil  of  this  section  is  more  than  ordin- 
arily fertile,  and  the  farmers  are  more  than  ordinarily  prosperous, 
results  brought  about  by  60  years  of  superior  farming.  No  other  sec- 
tion of  this  county  and  few  farming  sections  anywhere  show  to  a  more 
marked  degree  the  evidences  of  a  substantial  prosperity,  fine  homes, 
excellent  farm  buildings,  well-kept  farms,  strong  banks,  and  a  strong 
school  and  church  meeting  the  needs  of  rural  life. 

In  1900,  the  white  population  of  the  Sandy  Spring  neighborhood  was 
estimated  at  about  700,  and  the  colored  population  at  about  1,000. 
It  is  unlikely  that  there  has  been  much  change  since  that  time.  The 
white  population  has  been  exceedingly  stable.  Not  all  the  people  living 
within  the  limits  of  the  neighborhood  belong,  strictly  speaking,  to  the 
community.  But  of  those  who  are  members  of  the  Sandy  Spring 
social  group,  at  least  90%  are  of  the  famihes  of  "old  residents."  These 
families  are  practically  all  inter-related. 

We  have  said  that  the  community  has  always  been  predominantly 
under  the  influence  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  and  this  still  holds  true. 
Within  recent  years,  some  of  other  faiths  have  been  received  as  mem- 
bers of  the  group,  but  they  are  also  for  the  most  part  old  residents. 
During  the  summer  there  is  always  an  influx  of  people  from  near-by 
cities,  whose  annual  coming  has  wrought  social  changes  of  some  im- 
portance. But  in  general  we  may  say  that  we  are  here  concerned 
with  a  group  very  highly  homogeneous.  The  distinctive  Friend's  dress 
has  been  abandoned,  and  among  the  younger  generation  the  distinctive 
speech  is  to  some  extent  being  dropped. 

This  is  a  population  whose  main  characteristics  are  remarkably  per- 
manent and  who  have  attained  a  rare  sort  of  social  solidarity  which 
permits  them  to  retain  the  institutions  of  the  past  while  still  making 
room  for  the  best  that  the  present  has  to  offer.  They  cling  tenaciously 
to  many  of  their  old  traditions;  societies  and  customs  are  very  often 
much  longer  lived  than  are  the  individuals  who  father  them;  yet  no 
community  has  been  readier  to  adopt  improved  methods  of  agriculture 
or  more  active  in  the  support  of  reform  and  progress  along  all  lines. 
We  have,  moreover,  a  highly  cultured  group,  strong  in  its  advocacy  of 
good  schools  and  thorough  education.  Illiteracy  is  altogether  absent 
here,  while  indolence  and  shiftlessness  are  practically  so.  It  would 
doubtless  be  easy  to  show  that  this  uniformly  high  cultural  level  is 
fundamentally  responsible  for  the  high  degree  of  prosperity  which  the 
community  has  been  able  to  maintain. 

The  usual  rural-community  problem  of  holding  the  young  people 
has  been  a  more  or  less  vital  issue  here.  During  the  last  50  years  75  or 
80  young  men  have  gone  out  into  business  in  various  parts  of  the  world. 
The  farms  have  been  divided  a^  much  as  is  economically  desirable,  and 

55 


there  has  seemed  to  be  nothing  to  hold  these  young  people.  But  many 
of  the  farms  are  now  being  operated  by  an  older  generation,  and  in  many 
instances  there  are  no  young  men  in  their  families  who  can  be  looked  to 
to  carry  them  on.  The  Annalist  cities  that  in  1884  there  were  77  spinsters 
in  the  community.  A  similar  comment  might  be  made  of  the  present. 
Within  the  next  50  years  a  period  of  reorganization,  with  possible 
disintegration,  must  be  faced.  Institutions  of  long  standing  will  be 
subjected  to  a  severe  test  in  such  a  period  of  transition  as  seems  inevitable. 

The  vitality  of  this  community  is  very  high.  It  is  not  practicable 
to  separate  out  the  vital  statistics  for  this  neighborhood  from  the  statis- 
tics for  the  entire  county,  but  it  is  abundantly  evident  that  if  this  could 
be  done  a  very  low  death  rate  would  be  shown.  There  are  more  than 
20  people  in  this  group  who  are  80  years  of  age  or  older.  A  year  or  so 
ago,  the  average  age  of  the  13  directors  of  the  Savings  Institution  was 
over  70  years.  Throughout  the  community  the  average  length  of 
life  is  great. 

In  many  ways  this  neighborhood  keeps  in  close  touch  with  the  outer 
world,  and  this  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  it  is  ten  miles  from  a  railroad. 
Those  of  its  members  who  have  left  to  take  up  residence  in  the  cities 
usually  remain  in  some  sort  of  close  touch  with  the  community  to  its 
decided  advantage.  The  annual  summer  visitor  serves  somewhat  the 
same  purpose.  A  large  proportion  of  the  young  people  go  away  to 
schools  and  colleges,  many  of  them  returning  to  Sandy  Spring  to  live. 
Then,  too,  there  has  been  a  more  than  ordinary  amount  of  travelling 
by  members  of  the  community.  The  Annals  record  many  trips  to  the 
large  cities  of  the  country,  visits  in  the  North  or  far  West,  and  tours 
through  Europe;  for  example,  140  people  from  this  neighborhood  at- 
tended the  Chicago  World's  Fair  in  1892.  All  this  has  tended  to  give, 
to  their  life  many  semi-urban  characteristics. 

The  negroes  of  this  section  are  for  many  reasons  interesting  enough 
to  deserve  extended  mention.  This  Survey  however  made  little  at- 
tempt to  study  them  except  for  their  churches  and  schools.  These  are 
discussed  for  the  entire  county  in  another  place  and  will  not  be 
considered  here.  Reference  is  again  made  to  the  special  study  of  the 
negroes  of  Sandy  Spring  by  Prof.  William  Taylor  Thorn,  published 
as  a  part  of  the  Bulletin  of  the  Department  of  Labor,  No.  32,  under 
date  of  January,  1901.  This  is  a  very  careful  and  exhaustive  study  and 
precludes  any  necessity  of  discussing  further  the  topics  of  which  it  treats. 

In  many  respects  the  criticisms  which  are  usually  directed  against 
agricultural  communities  are  here  disarmed.  For  example  it  is  cus- 
tomary to  say  that  the  farmer  lacks  organization,  that  his  social  life 
is  at  low  c1)b  and  that  he  has  altogether  inadequate  recreation  facilities. 
Such  comments  would  be  pointless  as  regards  Sandy  Spring,  for  it  is  at 

56 


just  these  points  that  the  community  is  most  highly  developed.  Fra- 
ternal organizations  do  not  prosper,  but  it  is  because  there  seems  to  be 
no  need  for  them.  The  place  which  they  would  occupy  in  the  social 
life  of  the  group  is  otherwise  well-filled. 

Here  as  elsewhere,  societies  have  come  and  gone.  The  Annals  con- 
tain records  of  various  organizations  no  longer  in  existence.  But  more 
often  they  have  come  than  gone.  As  long  as  an  organization  performs 
any  real  function  it  is  maintained.  There  are  at  least  six  societies 
forty  or  more  years  old.  Nineteen  societies  now  enjoying  vigorous 
health  may  be  enumerated.  Ten  of  these  are  in  some  sense  agricultural 
societies.  A  list  follows,  giving  the  name,  number  of  meetings  per 
month  (expressed  1/4  or  2/4,  meaning  one  meeting  a  month  or 
two  meetings  a  month),  the  membership  and,  in  some  cases,  the 
average  attendance  at  the  meetings  (expressed  75-50,  meaning  mem- 
bership 75,  attendance  50),  and  the  date  of  organization  in  the  case  of 
societies  more  than  40  years  old.  The  Agricultural  societies  are  marked 
by  an  *. 

For  Men  Only 

*Montgomery  Farmers'  Club:  1/4.  16  &  3  honorary.     1872. 
*The  Senior  Club:  1/4.     16.     1844. 
*  The  Enterprise  Club:     1/4.     16.     1865. 
The  Physicians'  Social  Club:     1/4.     9. 
*The  Sandy  Spring  Fruit  Growers'  Association:     26. 
*The  Milk  Producers'  Association  of  Md.,  Va.  and  D.  C:    450.     (This 

is  an  interstate  organization  with  considerable  local  strength.) 
*The  Pigeon  Club.     1/4,     17.     (For  boys.) 

For  Ladies  Only 

The  Benevolent  Aid  Society. 

The  W.  C.  T.  U.  (four  branches  in  this  vicinity.) 

The  Association  for  Mutual  Improvement:     1857.     45-70. 

The  Wednesday  Club:     2/4.     36-25.     October  to  June. 

For  Both  Sexes 

*The  Olney  Grange  No.  7.     1/4.     89-50. 

The  Lyceum  Stock  Company. 

The  Montgomery  Co.  Woman's  Sujfrage  Assoc:     100. 
*The  Horticultural  Society:     1/4.     75-50.     1863.     May  to  October. 
*The  Home  Interest  Society:     1/4.     25-25.     1870. 
*The  Neighbors'  Society:     1/4.     50-50. 
The  Whist  Club:     1/4.    50. 
The  Book  Club:    Two  branches;  30  families  in  each. 

57 


AN   ATTRACTIVE  FARM   HOME 


Several  of  these  organizations  have  already  been  discussed  in  previous 
sections,  as,  for  instance,  the  Fruit  Growers'  and  the  Milk  Producers' 
Associations.  Something  of  the  significance  of  the  other  agricultural 
clubs  will  be  taken  up  later.  For  the  present  it  will  be  sufficient  to 
indicate  the  sort  of  work  which  is  undertaken  by  these  societies.  Both 
the  men's  societies  and  those  which  are  for  both  men  and  women  combine 
social  features  with  the  discussion  of  all  manner  of  topics  important  to 
their  members  as  farmers.  They  give  opportunity  for  informal  meeting, 
as  well  as  for  the  exchange  of  ideas.  The  program  of  a  meeting  of  one  of 
these  clubs  may  be  cited  as  typical.  This  is  taken  from  a  meeting  of  the 
Home  Interest  Society  on  the  night  of  the  26th  of  February  last.  Al- 
though it  was  raining  very  hard  sixteen  members  and  some  eight  or  ten 
guests  were  assembled  by  six  o'clock,  some  of  them  having  driven 
upwards  of  five  miles.  The  order  of  the  evening  was  as  follows :  1.  Sup- 
per— the  rule  of  the  club  stipulates  that  this  shall  always  be  a  one-course 
meal,  a  rule  which  is  observed  in  letter  but  not  in  spirit.  (We  might  at 
this  point  interject  the  observation  that  a  monumental  banquet  is  a 
feature  of  almost  every  gathering  of  this  neighborhood.)  2.  Music  and 
informal  conversation.     3.  The  reading  of  the  minutes  of  the  last  meet- 

58 


ing  held  at  this  house  and  also  of  the  last  regular  meeting.     4.  Vote  on 
proposed  members.     5.  Reports  of  the  various  committees. 

(a)  The  committee  of  delegates  to  a  recent  anti-saloon  league  conven- 
tion, 

(b)  The  peace  committee.  A  committee  appointed  to  inform  the 
senator  of  this  State  of  the  favorable  attitude  of  this  club  toward  the 
peace  treaties,  then  pending  in  Congress. 

(c)  The  committee  appointed  to  prepare  a  memorial  to  the  deceased 
daughter  of  two  of  the  members. 

(d)  The  forethought  committee,  whose  advice  to  the  club  was  to  trim 
the  grape  vines,  to  have  oxate  of  lead  ready  to  spray  them,  etc.,  regarding 
blackberries  and  rhubarb  and  vegetables. 

6.  One  of  the  members  told  of  a  recent  visit  to  Bermuda,  and  described 
the  way  its  farmers  raised  three  crops  of  potatoes  a  year,  and  perform 
other  like  agricultural  miracles. 

7.  Questions  and  discussion. 

(a)  "I  should  like  to  read  a  letter  from  a  student  of  the  Maryland 
Agricultural  College,  who  would  like  a  job  for  the  summer.  Will  any- 
one need  the  help  of  such  a  young  man?" 

(b)  "We  are  going  to  build  a  tenant  house.  Should  we  build  a  cellar 
under  it?  The  tenants  will  probably  not  keep  it  sanitary.  Will  such  a 
cellar  do  more  harm  than  good?" 

This  was  discussed  pro  and  con,  the  pros  having  it. 

(c)  "Has  anybody  been  able  to  keep  cabbage  this  winter?"  Some 
have  by  putting  leaves  on  it. 

(d)  "What  kind  of  asparagus  root  would  you  plant?  How  old  should 
it  be?     How  should  one  plant  it?  " 

(Answer  too  technical  for  the  investigators  to  grasp.) 

(e)  "If  cider  freezes  will  it  make  vinegar?"  Better  get  some  "new 
mother"  and  put  in  it. 

(/")  "Has  any  one  any  hens  setting?"     No,  not  even  laying. 

(g)  "How  should  I  make  rebellious  cream  butter?"  Use  buttermilk 
as  a  starter. 

(h)  "I  have  a  colored  man  who  has  been  forty-five  years  on  my  place. 
Several  years  now  he  has  not  been  able  to  do  a  half  a  man's  work.  I 
have  continued  to  pay  him  full  wages,  higher  than  most  farm  hands 
receive  in  this  district.  He  has  never  saved  any  of  his  money  nor  made 
any  attempt  to  do  so.  He  is  now  65  years  old.  Living  with  him  are  his 
wife,  daughter  and  mother-in-law,  who  all  depend  upon  him  for  support. 
Shall  I  continue  to  pay  this  man  his  full  wages,  shall  I  turn  him  out  or 
what  shall  I  do  with  him?  " 

Here  was  indeed  a  fine  ethical  question,  which  was  discussed  at  some 
length  without  arriving  at  any  definite  conclusion,  but  it  was  the  sense 

59 


of  the  club  that  the  questioner  had  fuhilled  his  duty  and  that  the  problem 
had  now  become  one  of  charity.  Following  this  an  adjournment  was 
taken  at  ten  o'clock. 

From  this  it  will  be  seen  that  a  great  variety  of  topics  relating  to  every 
aspect  of  farm  life  and  work  are  discussed  in  these  clubs.  In  the  men's 
clubs  more  technical  questions  of  fertilization,  of  methods  of  planting,  of 
stock  breeding  and  many  similar  branches  of  farming  are  discussed. 

The  Pigeon^  Club  is  doing  for  the  boys  what  these  other  clubs  do  for 
their  elders.  Its  scope  is  wider  than  its  name.  In  it  the  boy  receives 
preliminary  initiation  into  the  mysteries  of  the  farm.  This  club  holds 
an  annual  poultry  show  at  the  Lyceum  Hall. 

The  social  significance  of  these  clubs  is  very  great.  The  week  of  the 
full  moon  is  always  a  steady  round  of  festivities,  as  most  of  these  societies 
date  by  the  moon.  Even  if  the  community  had  no  other  opportunity  for 
recreation  than  that  furnished  by  its  clubs,  it  would  be  better  provided 
for  than  is  the  average  rural  community.  However,  the  activities  of  the 
clubs  do  not  begin  to  exhaust  the  list  of  amusements  of  this  neighborhood. 
Each  season  has  its  lectures  and  its  musicals,  at  least  two  or  three  of  each 
and  a  half  dozen  or  more  of  home  talent  plays  and  school  entertainments. 
These  are  held  in  the  school  assembly  room  or  in  the  Lyceum  Hall,  and 
are  usually  very  well  attended.  The  same  sort  of  a  change  has  been 
going  on  here  as  elsewhere  in  the  county,  during  the  last  thirty  years  or 
more.  Lecturers  on  sober  topics  do  not  now  speak  to  the  large,  enthusi- 
astic audiences  that  once  faced  them.  However,  these  entertainments,  of 
whatever  sort,  are  all  of  more  than  ordinary  high  class.  There  are  usually 
four  or  five  dances  a  season  in  the  Assembly  Hall,  sponsored  by  the  High 
School.  These  are  invitation  dances  with  an  admission  fee.  The  aver- 
age attendance  is  fifty,  plus  plenty  of  chaperones.  A  number  of  other 
dances  are  usually  held  in  the  Grange  Hall  at  Olney  or  in  private  homes. 
On  the  road  between  Ashton  and  Ednor  there  is  a  club  house  which  has 
been  in  process  of  completion  for  a  number  of  years.  It  is  still  rather 
airy  for  winter  use,  but  occasional  dances  are  held  there  during  the 
summer,  perhaps  four  a  season.  In  addition  to  these  forms  of  amuse- 
ment there  are  all  the  various  outdoor  activities  of  a  well-organized 
community.  There  are  three  tennis  courts  in  Sandy  Spring,  and  many 
play.  There  is  an  annual  tournament  which  attracts  considerable 
interest.  The  High  School  has  a  baseball  team  and  during  the  summer 
there  is  a  neighborhood  team.  The  games  are  all  fairly  well  attended. 
There  is  no  admission  charged.  Of  course,  there  is  the  annual  game  of 
the  "Hasbeens"  and  the  "  Never- were-anything-muches,''  without  which 
the  life  of  no  community  would  be  complete.  Basketball  and  soccer  are 
played  at  the  High  School. 

There  are  many  private  picnics  and  outings  during  the  course  of  the 

60 


year.  This  is  an  exceedingly  social  neighborhood,  due  in  part  to  the  fact 
that  its  people  are  so  closely  inter-related,  and  there  is  in  consequence  a 
great  deal  of  social  visiting.  If  it  is  true  that  the  problem  of  the  main- 
tenance of  a  high  standard  of  social  morality  is  very  vitally  connected  with 
the  problem  of  providing  adequate  recreation  facilities,  then  one  would 
expect  to  find  here,  what  is  actually  found,  that  the  moral  plane  is 
quite  above  the  average.  The  term  moral  is  used  in  a  broad  sense. 
It  is  evident  that  not  only  are  all  gross  violations  of  the  accepted  con- 
ventions quite  absent;  but  also  the  lesser  vices  of  social  intercourse, 
those  things  which  are  the  making  of  neighborhood  scandals,  the  gos- 
sipings  and  petty  dishonesties  are  conspicuously  absent.  The  discipline 
of  the  Friends'  meeting  admonishes  its  members  to  observe  simplicity, 
to  encourage  kindness  and  gentle  dignity  and  to  guard  against  corrupt 
conversation.  The  spirit  of  this  discipline  prevailing  in  the  community 
means  the  cultivation  of  social  virtues  of  high  order. 

The  entire  organization  of  the  community,  in  fact,  serves  this  same 
end.  This  is  not  the  place  to  discuss  the  characteristics  of  the  Friends' 
religion,  other  than  to  say  that  it  is  a  religion  that  concerns  itself  vitally 
with  the  affairs  of  common  life,  with  the  dress  and  conversation  and  the 
daily  deportment  of  its  people.  The  meeting  occupies  a  much  larger 
place  in  the  total  life  of  the  neighborhood  than  a  church  usually  fills 
in  this  age. 

We  have  reserved  the  discussion  of  the  real  social  impact  of  such 
institutions  as  the  Club  and  the  Meeting  for  a  later  paragraph.  The  one 
aspect  of  the  religious  life  which  concerns  us  here  is  the  philanthropic 
work  of  the  Meeting.  A  new  plan  has  just  been  adopted  for  carrying 
out  this  philanthropic  work,  which  a  member  of  the  Meeting,  in  a  letter 
to  the  investigators,  describes  as  follows: 

"That  the  whole  meeting  be  constituted  a  philanthropic  committee, 
with  a  call  during  our  business  proceedings  in  the  second,  fifth,  eighth, 
and  eleventh  months: 

"That  a  superintendent  be  appointed  for  each  branch  of  our  philan- 
thropic work,  to  make  a  detailed  report  to  the  Meeting  at  least  once  a 
year,  in  the  eighth  month,  and  at  other  periods  as  they  deem  necessary: 

"That  the  following  branches  of  social  service  be  selected: 

"Peace  and  arbitration. 

"Purity  and  Demoralizing  Publications. 

"Work  among  Colored  People,  also  for  Women  and  Children. 
.  "Tobacco  and  Narcotics. 

"Temperance,  Prisons,  Asylums  and  Hospitals. 

"Lotteries,  Gambling  and  Kindred  Vices. 

"Equal  Rights  for  Women." 

The  variety  and  scope  of  these  interests  will  be  at  once  remarked. 

61 


Closely  associated  with  this  philanthropic  work,  though  done,  for  the 
most,  quite  informally,  is  the  care  which  the  community  takes  of  its 
poor  and  unfortunate.  No  one  living  within  the  bounds  of  the  neigh- 
borhood is  knowingly  suffered  to  be  in  want.  This  does  not  apply 
only  to  the  members  of  the  Meeting  but  to  all,  white  and  colored  alike. 
This  is  a  well  established  practice,  which  permits  the  one  in  need  to 
accept  help  as  readily  as  it  is  offered  \^ithout  loss  of  self-respect.  As 
regards  the  negroes,  this  attitude  of  helpfulness  has  always  expressed 
itself  in  very  j^ractical  ways.  Since  the  members  of  the  Meeting  first 
manumitted  their  slaves  and  declared  themselves  committed  to  freedom 
from  bondage  and  equal  opportunity  for  all,  they  and  their  descendents 
have  encouraged  the  colored  churches,  supported  the  schools  and  as- 
sisted the  negroes  to  reach  and  maintain  a  condition  of  economic 
independence. 

The  main  school  of  the  neighborhood  is  admirably  adapted  for  the 
needs  of  country  life.  We  may  anticipate  the  discussion  of  educational 
conditions  in  the  county  sufficiently  to  sketch  the  main  characteristics 
of  the  school  at  Sandy  Spring.  It  is  the  outgrowth  of  a  long  established 
Friend's  school,  taken  over  by  the  county  some  years  ago.  The  old 
building  was  enlarged  and  remodeled.     It  is  now  a  modern  rural  school 


SANDY  SPRING  HIGH  SCHOOL 
62 


in  every  respect,  with  eleven  grades,  offering  four  year  courses  in  Ele- 
mentary Agriculture,  Domestic  Science,  and  Music.  It  has  an  efficient 
teaching  force,  and  material  equipment  reasonably  ample  for  all  its  needs. 
Provision  is  made  for  the  social  and  recreational  life  of  the  pupils.  The 
school  is  under  the  influence  of  the  Friends'  whose  educational  ideals 
are  notably  high.  There  are  other  elementary  schools  within  the  borders 
of  the  neighborhood,  but  the  educational  life  of  the  community  centers 
about  this  High  School. 

The  social  organization  of  this  neighborhood  is  sharp  and  distinct. 
There  are  three  economic  and  three  social  classes.  Class  lines  are  de- 
finitely drawn.  Among  the  members  of  the  Sandy  Spring  social  group, 
there  is  a  distinct  class  consciousness.  There  is  no  wealth  qualification 
for  admittance  to  this  circle,  but  the  qualifications  of  education,  morality, 
and  congeniality.  Another  class  is  composed  partly  of  farm  owners 
and  partly  of  tenants.  A  third  class  is  the  group  of  laborers  and  small 
renters.  This  last  named  class  have  little  or  no  social  life.  They  are 
within  the  neighborhood,  but  are  not  of  it.  The  second  class  mentioned 
is  somewhat  more  compact  than  these.  But  practically,  we  may  say, 
the  Sandy  Spring  community  means  that  social  group  which  we  have 
been  discussing.  Class  consciousness  is  here  a  form  of  community 
consciousness. 

The  question  of  social  control  within  this  group,  is  a  peculiarly  in- 
teresting one.  There  are  forces  at  work  which  have  long  since  produced 
a  distinctive  type  and  which  now  induce  adherence  to  it.  There  are 
forces  working  for  the  continuity  of  social  institutions  and  for  a  high 
form  of  what  we  may  call  social  cohesion.  There  is,  for  example  the 
force  of  their  common  religion,  distinctive  and  different  from  the  faith 
of  the  people  round  about  them.  This  serves  both  to  separate  them 
from  others  and  to  bind  them  closely  together.  Had  the  line  of  cleavage 
here  been  less  distinct  it  is  doubtful  if  the  community  could  have  retained 
its  individuality  through  so  long  a  period  of  time.  Then  too  this  is, 
as  we  have  said,  a  religion  which  emphasizes  practical  ideals  dealing 
directly  with  neighborhood  activities  and  associations,  and  having 
intimate  relation  with  all  that  is  important  in  their  daily  life.  The 
Meeting  provides  for  them  a  program  of  service  as  well  as  a  stimulus  to 
worship,  and  by  working  together,  so  constantly  and  in  such  a  diversity 
of  ways  the  social  group  becomes  solidified.  This  result  is  made  the 
easier  of  achievement  since  the  membership  of  the  Meeting  has  always 
included  practically  all  of  those  who  are  prominent  in  the  community 
socially. 

The  Annals,  which  we  have  mentioned,  affect  the  community  in 
helping  it  to  maintain  a  sense  of  its  own  continuity.  The  present  is 
intimate  with  the  past  to  a  degree  not  at  all  true  of  the  typical  rural 

63 


community.  There  is  a  constant  awakening  of  the  memory  of  former 
days;  and  a  consequent  cherishing  of  community  ideals  and  standards; 
promoting,  in  turn,  the  persistence  of  all  neighborhood  interests.  As 
long  as  a  community  is  unable  to  forget  its  own  history,  especially 
when  that  history  is  a  distinctively  worthy  and  inspiring  one,  it  is 
impossible  for  it  to  sink  far  below  the  level  of  its  past. 

The  various  forms  of  neighborhood  activity,  past  and  present,  which 
ha\'e  found  outward  expression  in  such  institutions  as  the  school,  the 
Lyceum  Hall,  the  banks,  the  insurance  company,  and  the  library,  all 
serve  to  increase  the  homogeneity  of  the  social  group.  These  are  the 
monuments  of  cooperation  and  community  endeavor.  Of  course  the 
stability  of  the  population  and  the  great  degree  of  inter-marriage  help 
to  weld  the  community  together,  so  that  within  the  neighborhood  itself 
there  are  practically  no  divisive  forces. 

But  the  most  potent  form  of  social  control  expresses  itself  in  what 
we  may  call  the  community  conscience.  The  clubs  and  the  Grange 
share  with  the  Monthly  Meeting  the  function  of  providing  this  con- 
science. In  the  program  which  we  cited  of  the  Meeting  of  the  Home 
Interest  Society,  it  will  be  recalled  that  among  the  questions  brought 
up  for  discussion,  was  one  which  was  properly  an  ethical  problem.  This 
is  very  frequent.  Many  personal  problems  whose  significance  is  social 
are  solved  by  the  club  or  the  Meeting.  In  many  ways,  not  always  easy 
to  trace,  standards  of  conduct  are  created,  which  determine  for  the 
individual  what  his  course  should  be.  It  is  the  Group  Will  imposing 
itself  upon  the  individual,  or  rather  it  is  the  Will  of  the  individual  find- 
ing expression  through  the  Will  of  the  Group.  The  force  of  this  cumu- 
lative social  pressure  must  be  great;  greater,  probably,  than  the  in- 
dividual is  apt  to  realize.  This  sort  of  control  prepossesses  leadership 
and  here,  more  clearly  than  elsewhere  in  the  county,  can  the  source  and 
the  activities  of  that  leadership  be  discerned.  Economically  it  is  the 
leadership  of  the  farmer  who  has  himself  succeeded;  morally  and  religi- 
ously it  is  the  leadership  of  the  older,  tried  members  of  the  Meeting. 
Always  it  is  quite  unostentatious  and  self-efifacing. 

So  far  we  have  been  looking  at  the  favorable  aspects  of  this  community 
and  have  been  constrained  to  praise  rather  than  to  criticism.  But  in 
conclusion  we  may  point  but  that  if  this  community  is  to  reach  its  maxi- 
mum de\-elopment  and  fill  the  place  of  its  maximum  usefulness,  if  indeed 
it  is  to  maintain  its  present  level,  there  are  certain  pertinent  problems 
for  which  it  must  find  a  solution.  There  is  its  race  problem,  less  acute 
here  than  elsewhere,  and  also  in  process  of  solution,  but  important,  never- 
theless. Had  Sandy  Spring  had  for  its  negro  population  only  the 
descendants  of  that  group  of  negroes  originally  given  their  freedom,  and 
trained  there  under  such  admirable  auspices,  its  problem  would  not  now 

64 


SANDY  SPRING  HIGH   SCHOOL  TENNIS  CLUB 


be  a  very  serious  one.  But  the  negroes  have  been  migratory;  favorable 
conditions  have  attracted  to  the  neighborhood  many  brought  up  under 
very  different  circumstances,  and  it  is  never  easy  to  make  a  shifting 
population  respond  to  the  stimulus  of  social  standards.  The  problem  of 
the  relation  of  the  negro  to  the  rural  community  is  in  many  respects 
more  acute  now  than  ever  before;  even  though  apparently  nearer  solu- 
tion. Sandy  Spring  must  remember  that  the  status  of  the  entire  com- 
munity may  be  expected  to  be  influenced,  intellectually  and  morally  and 
certainly  economically,  by  the  status  of  the  negro  within  its  bounds.  It 
must  make  more  determmed  efforts  than  ever  to  raise  him  to  a  higher 
level  of  industry,  morality  and  trained  efficiency. 

There  is  also  a  present  social  problem,  the  problem,  we  may  say,  of  a 
social  ministry.  There  is  a  class  of  whites  living  in  this  neighborhood 
on  a  distinctly  inferior  level;  a  class  almost  without  social  life;  a  class 
with  lower  standards  and  ideals.  These  are  the  marginal  people  of  the 
community,  and  they  are  the  people  whose  welfare  must  ultimately 
condition  the  welfare  of  the  community  as  a  whole.  The  service  to  the 
marginal  man  is  not  charity;  it  is  necessity.  How  this  problem  is  to  be 
solved  is  for  the  community  itself  to  determine.  The  Grange  began  as  a 
leveling  and  uniting  force,  reaching,  to  be  sure,  only  a  small  portion  of 

65 


these  people,  but  now,  after  forty  years  of  existence,  it  has  ceased  to  fulfill 
that  function  and  has  become  an  organization  of  a  single  group. 
I  Closely  connected  with  this  is  the  problem  of  achieving  a  closer  degree 
of  cooperation  with  the  rest  of  the  county.  Friends  are  known  as  propogan- 
dists  and  reformers,  and  have  a  reputation  of  being  clannish.  These  two 
things  have  made  it  hard  for  them  to  exert  the  influence  which  they 
should  exert  upon  the  county.  There  is  room  for  aggressive  leadershi]:) 
along  many  lines;  better  farming,  more  thorough  cooperation,  more 
efficient  organization  and  greater  social  compactness  and  continuity. 

Lastly  we  may  mention  the  problem  of  self-preservation.  We  ha\e 
already  pointed  out  the  source  of  this  problem  and  we  can  hardly  venture 
an  opinion  as  to  its  solution,  but  the  indications  are  that  it  will  be  more 
acute  in  fifty  years  than  now. 

These  are  problems  which  the  community  must  set  itself  to  solve. 
To  aid  it  it  has  strong  memories,  a  developed  social  pride,  and  a  high 
degree  of  social  compactness,  along  with  those  prime  necessities,  a  sound 
economic  policy  and  a  developed  and  apparently  permanent  prosperity. 

EDUCATIONAL   CONDITIONS 

Some  time  during  the  current  year  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Educa- 
tion will  probably  publish  a  bulletin  on  the  educational  conditions  in 
Montgomery  County  which  will  contain  in  detail  all  the  information 
gathered  by  this  survey,  including  a  full  discussion  of  all  public  and 
private  schools.  In  consequence,  only  the  outstanding  features  of  the 
educational  situation  will  be  discussed  here,  and  the  reader  is  referred  to 
the  Government  bulletin  for  a  detailed  account. 

The  Public  School  System 

The  supervision  of  the  public  schools  of  the  county  is  entrusted  to  a 
county  superintendent  and  a  board  of  six  commissioners,  appointed  by 
the  governor  of  the  State  for  a  term  of  years.  Each  school  has  its  local 
trustees,  charged  with  the  immediate  oversight  of  its  affairs  and  cooperat- 
ing with  the  county  board,  which  has  complete  control  over  the  county 
system.  The  appointment  of  teachers  and  all  matters  of  policy  and 
administration  rest  with  this  board  and  the  superintendent.  This  type 
of  organization  has  one  great  weakness,  to  which  we  have  already 
referred,  which  is,  that  thereby  the  schools  arc  put  most  distinctly  into 
politics.  In  the  actual  results  produced,  the  fact  that  the  superintendent 
and  the  conimissioners  owe  their  appointment  to  political  influence  may 
or  may  not  work  detriment  to  the  schools.  In  the  present  instance  it  so 
happens  that  it  does  not.  The  men  now  filling  these  positions  are  all 
highly  efficient  men,  genuinely  concerned  for  the  welfare  of  the  schools 
and  serving  them  faithfully  and  with  marked  ability.     The  record  made 

66 


O  fOf^L  O'srff/cr  SCHOOL  fi/i/M/  rc:J 
■  fic/f>/iL  o/srf?/cr  scMOOi.  (colo^eoJ 
^pmv/^rc  SCHOOL  Off  coll  cg£ 


MAP   NO.    I — LOCATION   OF   SCHOOLS 


during  the  present  administration  clearly  proves  that.  The  condition  in 
itself,  however,  is  undesirable,  if  for  no  other  reason  than  that  it  makes  the 
tenure  of  office  uncertain  and  hampers  the  ofi&cials  in  putting  into  effect 
any  permanent  policy  of  administration  and  development,  which  it 
obviously  requires  more  than  two  or  four  or  six  years  to  accomplish. 

There  are  in  all  106  schools  in  the  county,  76  for  white  pupils  and  30 
for  colored.  There  is  one  white  school  for  every  101  of  the  white  popu- 
lation of  school  age  (5  to  20  years)  and  one  colored  school  for  every  103 
of  the  colored  children.  Each  election  district  has  from  two  to  nine 
white  schools;  twelve  of  the  districts  have  from  one  to  four  colored  schools 
each.  (For  the  exact  location  of  these  schools  see  the  map  above.)  No 
section  of  the  county  is  without  its  white  school  reasonably  accessible, 
while  there  is  no  considerable  settlement  of  negroes  without  a  colored 
school  near.  The  76  white  schools  include  7  high  schools  and  17  grammar 
schools.  The  policy  of  the  present  administration  has  been  one  of 
expansion.     Twenty-six  new  school  houses  have  been  built  within  the 

67 


last  six  years;  only  6  of  these  have  been  one-room  schools.  In  all  the 
county  there  is  only  one  consolidated  school  with  public  transportation 
of  pupils;  this  is  located  at  Poolesville.  The  white  schools  are  in  session 
188  days  a  year,  but  the  colored  schools  are  in  session  only  140  days, 
except  in  a  few  cases  in  which  private  subscription  makes  it  possible  to  , 
keep  them  open  longer. 

The  Material  Equipment 

Buildings.  The  76  white  schools  occupy  77  buildings;  70  of  these  are 
frame  structures,  5  are  of  brick  and  2  are  of  stone.  The  total  number  of 
rooms  is  151,  of  which  140  were  last  year  used  for  school  purposes;  51  of 
the  schools  were  one-room,  one-teacher  schools.  The  law  requires  the 
maintenance  of  a  certain  average  attendance  before  two  teachers  can  be 
assigned  to  one  school,  so  that  a  number  of  two-room  buildings  were  in 
effect  only  one-room  schools.  This  proportion  of  one-teacher  schools, 
67%  of  the  total  number,  raises  a  problem  which  is,  in  a  way,  at  the  crux 
of  the  whole  situation. 

The  most  frequent  criticism  aimed  at  the  rural  schools  of  recent  years 
has  been  that  they  have  borrowed  their  course  of  study  and  their  teach- 
ing methods  from  the  city  schools,  and  have  offered  the  country  pupil 
nothing  distinctively  adapted  to  his  actual  sphere  in  life.  In  another 
connection  we  will  discuss  the  movement  for  the  broadening  of  the  cur- 
riculum of  the  rural  schools  by  the  introduction  of  studies  which  aim 
directly  to  equip  the  students  for  farm  life.  This  is  a  thing  for  which 
there  is  an  ever-growing  demand.  Yet  it  must  be  remembered  that  there 
is  an  equally  insistent  demand  for  more  highly  efficient  teaching  in  the 
rural  schools  and  a  general  improvement  of  the  class  of  work  done.  This 
brings  us  again  to  our  point  that  67%  of  the  schools  are  one-teacher 
schools. 

It  will  readily  be  seen  that  in  a  school  in  which  one  teacher  has  charge 
of  30  or  more  pupils  in  eight  different  grades,  with  the  average  length  of 
the  recitation  period  only  15  minutes,  any  movement  to  increase  the 
efficiency  of  the  teaching  must  begin  by  narrowing  rather  than  broaden- 
ing the  curriculum.  It  is  only  when  the  teaching  force  is  multiplied  that 
the  curriculum  can  be  broadened  and  the  general  efficiency  at  the  same 
time  increased.  In  the  main,  this  situation  has  raised  the  question  of 
the  consolidation  of  schools. 

As  we  have  said,  there  is  at  the  present  time  only  one  consolidated  school 
in  the  county  with  public  transportation  of  pupils,  though  several  other 
schools,  notably  the  Sandy  Spring  and  Brookeville  High  Schools,  are  in 
effect  consolidated  schools.  It  is  the  hope  of  the  School  Administration 
to  put  into  effect  in  the  near  future  a  policy  of  gradually  consolidating 
the  schools  at  convenient  centres,  with  a  ^'iew  to  covering  ultimately 

68 


69 


the  entire  county  in  this  fashion.  This  "ultiniatel}',"  ho\ve\er,  ])ro- 
Ixibly  means  tlu'  dim,  dim  future,  as  will  subsequently  be  brought  out 
in  our  discussion  of  the  altitude  of  the  school  ])atrons  toward  their 
school  problems. 

In  general  it  may  be  said  that  the  equipment  of  the  white  schools  for 
school  ])urposes  is  above  the  average  for  similar  communities.  On  the 
credit  side  of  the  ledger  we  may  mention  that  all  the  buildings  are  in 
good  repair;  nearly  half  of  them  have  been  built  within  the  last  ten  years. 
All  but  13  have  ample  seating  facilities.  Practically  all  have  a  sufficient 
number  of  globes,  maps  and  charts,  while  all  have  sufficient  school  books 
and  other  materials  furnished  the  pupils  without  cost  by  the  county. 
In  the  majority  of  the  rooms  some  attention  has  been  paid  to  the  aesthe- 
tic; practically  all  have  pictures,  drawings  or  other  decorations  of  some 
sort,  representing  all  degrees  of  artistic  appreciation,  but  for  the  most 
part  ])roducing  a  pleasing  effect.  Rockville  High  School  deserves 
special  mention  in  this  connection.  This  school  has  recently  purchased 
some  excellent  plaques  and  friezes  at  a  cost  of  several  hundred  dollars. 
Twenty-eight  of  the  schools  are  provided  with  some  sort  of  musical 
instrument. 

All  but  11  schools  have  a  good  water  supply;  46  have  wells  and  9  have 
springs  on  the  school  property  or  within  convenient  distance.  Sanitary 
conditions  are  in  the  main  good.  All  but  four  schools  have  outside 
toilets,  but  only  12  of  these  are  in  any  way  unsanitary.  Fifty  per-cent. 
have  cloak  rooms  for  the  pupils.  Certain  other  things  must  be  entered 
on  the  debit  side  of  the  ledger.  In  general  it  must  be  confessed  that 
school  architects  have  paid  altogether  insufficient  attention  to  the  ques- 
tion of  proper  methods  of  lighting,  heating  and  ventilation.  Nearly 
90%  of  the  rooms  have  cross  lighting;  a  number  of  rooms  have  windows 
so  placed  that  the  pupils  must  face  the  light;  in  only  16  rooms  is  the 
lighting  adjacent.  Seven  of  the  buildings  are  furnace  heated  and  ten 
are  equipped  with  jacketed  stoves;  the  remainder  retain  the  unjacketed 
stove,  in  spite  of  its  obvious  disadvantages.  The  ventilation  is  often 
very  ])oor.  The  seating  of  the  pupils  is  for  the  most  part  at  the  old- 
fashioned  double  desks.  Twenty-two  per-cent.  of  all  rooms  have  single 
desks  and  3  rooms  report  desks  that  are  adjustable.  Only  6  schools  are 
provided  with  teachers'  rooms. 

Nearly  all  of  the  colored  schools  are  in  a  more  or  less  delapidated 
condition.  All  the  buildings  are  frame.  One  school  holds  its  sessions 
in  a  church.  The  total  number  of  rooms  is  38  of  which  34  are  actually 
used  for  school  purposes.  Twenty-eight  of  the  schools,  or  93%,  are 
one-teacher  schools.  Twenty-eight  are  equipped  with  double,  non- 
adjustal)le  desks;  25  are  heated  with  non-jacketed  stoves;  all  have  cross- 
lighting.     In  16  the  seating  facilities  are  not  ample.     Nine  have  an 

70 


A   COUNTRY    SCHOOL —    UNTOLD    POSSIBILITIES   FOR   COMMUNITY    SERVICE   LIE 
DORMANT  IN   SUCH   SCHOOLS   AS  THIS " 

insufficient  number  of  maps,  charts  and  globes;  27  are  without  any  sort 
of  muscial  instrument ;  only  one  has  a  cloak  room  and  none  have  teachers' 
rooms;  10  are  without  water  supply;  nearly  one-half  have  unsanitary 
toilets.  Free  school-books  and  other  materials  are  provided  by  the 
county,  usually  in  sufficient  quantity. 

Grounds.  The  grounds  of  the  white  schools  have  a  total  acreage  of 
98>^.  There  is  no  school  without  a  fair  plot  of  ground.  Thirteen  of 
the  school  lots  are  fenced,  36  are  fairly  level,  11  have  good  walks;  63 
have  shade  trees,  13  have  flower  beds.  The  30  colored  schools  are 
provided  with  approximately  24  acres  of  ground.  Several  schools  have 
no  grounds.  The  average  lot  is  about  three-fourths  of  an  acre.  Only 
7  of  the  lots  are  fenced  and  only  6  have  walks;  16  are  reasonably  level; 
23  have  shade  trees  and  3  have  flower  beds.  The  school  equipment 
has  in  the  past  taken  only  very  slightly  into  account  the  play  side  of 
school  life.  Very  few  of  the  rural  schools  have  ground  adapted  for  use 
as  play  grounds,  though  the  high  schools  are  fairly  well  provided  for  in 
this  respect.  Only  11  schools,  all  white,  have  any  play  apparatus; 
these  11  include  the  Rockville,  Brookeville  and  Sandy  Spring  High 
Schools,  which  are  exceptionally  well  furnished  in  this  respect.  Most 
of  the  schools,  however,  leave  their  pupils  very  much  to  their  own  de- 
vices during  play  hours,  and  there  is  but  little  attempt  to  lead  or  direct 
them.  Of  the  white  schools  29  and  of  colored  schools  2  possess  American 
flags— 31  out  of  106. 

Value.  The  total  value  of  the  school  property  owned  by  the  county 
is  $165,800;  $155,050  of  this  amount  is  invested  in  buildings  and  grounds 

71 


for  white  schools;  $10,750  is  invested  in  colored  schools.     The  average 
xahic  of  each  white  school  is  about  $2,095;  of  each  colored  school,  $470. 

The  Teaching  Force 

The  white  schools  have  a  teaching  force  of  128,  27  male  and  101 
female.  An  attempt  was  made  to  obtain  accurate  information  as  to 
the  training  of  these  teachers,  and  although  our  data  are  incomplete 
and  not  always  reliable,  it  appears  that  a  fair  proportion,  probably  25%, 
have  had  a  college  or  normal-school  training.  Somewhat  more  than 
half  of  the  whole  number  have  had  the  equivalent  of  a  high  school 
course,  while  the  remainder  have  had  only  a  grade  school  training. 
Fifty-two  reported  first-grade,  first-class  certificates.  The  30  colored 
schools  were  in  the  charge  of  33  teachers,  6  male  and  27  female.  Of 
this  number,  27  reported  that  they  had  had  a  normal  or  industrial 
school  training. 

It  has  been  observed  in  many  rural  districts  that  one  of  the  chief 
weaknesses  of  the  schools  has  arisen  from  the  fact  that  the  teaching 
force  is  so  constant4y  shifting.  In  3  counties  surveyed  in  Missouri, 
for  example,  it  was  found  that  practically  all  of  the  rural  teachers  moved 
every  year  and  that  changes  were  frequently  made  during  the  school 
term.  The  causes  of  this  condition  are  various  but  the  results  are 
fairly  constant.  The  one-year  teacher  can  only  begin  to  understand 
the  pupils  and  the  community  she  is  to  serve  and  get  ahold  of  the  parti- 
cular problems  of  the  school.  Each  year  the  process  is  to  be  gone  through 
with  and  can  never  be  completed.  At  least  three  or  four  years  in  one 
community  are  necessary  before  the  best  result  can  be  obtained.  In 
Montgomery  County,  on  the  whole,  quite  favorable  conditions  prevail. 
All  the  teachers  reported  the  length  of  time  which  they  had  held  their 
present  positions.  The  average  for  the  white  teachers  was  four  years 
and  for  the  colored  teachers  three  years.  This  average  is  in  part  due 
to  a  few  cases  of  exceptionally  long  tenure,  but  a  large  proportion  of  the 
teachers  reported  that  they  had  held  their  present  positions  two  years  or 
more.  The  average  number  of  positions  held  during  the  last  five  years 
was,  for  white  teachers,  l.G,  and  for  colored  teachers,  1.8.  The  average 
number  of  years  of  teaching  experience  was  8.1  and  9.6  years  for  white 
and  colored  teachers,  respectively.  The  advice  of  the  President  of  the 
Colored  Teachers'  Association  to  the  teachers  on  this  point  of  tenure  of 
position  was  brief  and  pithy.  "Stay  in  a  locality  until  you  know  it 
and  make  the  people  love  you;  but  leave  while  they  are  still  loving  you." 
Fifty-five  of  the  white  teachers  and  30  of  the  colored  reported  that  it 
was  their  intention  to  teach  permanently.  About  50  white  teachers 
had  definitely  decided  to  give  up  teaching.  The  remaining  number, 
mostly  young  ladies,  expressed  themselves  as  undecided.    Last  year 

72 


the  average  salary  paid  the  white  teachers  was  ^440.48;  the  colored 
teachers  received  on  the  average,  $174.  The  salary  paid  is  in  part  de- 
pendent upon  the  average  attendance  maintained  by  the  particular 
school  over  which  the  teacher  presides,  there  being  a  uniform  scale 
throughout  the  county. 

The  Pupils 

The  total  population  of  the  county  between  the  ages  of  5  and  20 
years  is  approximately  10,800,  of  which  number  7,710  are  whice  and 
3,090  are  colored.  The  total  enrollment  of  the  schools,  white  and 
colored,  for  the  year  1911  to  1912,  was  5,709  or  52.8%  of  the  population 
of  school  age.  For  the  entire  continental  United  States,  according  to 
the  Census  of  1910,  the  proportion  of  the  population  of  school  age 
enrolled  in  the  schools  was  62.8%.  Montgomery  County,  then,  is 
nearly  10%  below  the  average  for  the  country  (even  allowing  for  the 
number  attending  private  schools  and  colleges.)  Of  the  total  enrollment, 
3,726  were  in  regular  attendance.  This  last  means  that  65.5%  of  the 
children  of  the  county  did  not  attend  the  public  schools  regularly. 

White  Schools.  The  highest  total  enrollment  of  the  white  schools 
last  year  was  3,927  or  50.9%  of  the  white  population  of  school  age. 
The  total  average  attendance  was  2,639  or  67.3%  of  the  enrollment. 
This  made  an  average  attendance  of  34.7  pupils  per  school. 

The  proportion  of  pupils  enrolled  in  each  grade  begins  to  decrease 
after  the  fourth  grade  and  drops  ofif  sharply  after  the  sixth.  (Table 
No.  18,  Appendix,  page  VI). 

The  district   showing  the  best  average   attendance  was  Bethesda, 


GREEN  BUT  GROWING 

73 


with  78.2'^/^  of  the  enrollment  in  regular  attendance.  Olney  and  Rock- 
N-ille  were  second  and  third  respectively,  with  78.1%  and  73.3%.  The 
poorest  average  attendance  was  shown  by  the  Barnesville  District, 
with  52%,  of  its  enrollment  in  regular  attendance.  Potomac  was  a 
close  second,  with  53%.  Evidently  it  would  seem  that  the  attendance 
at  the  schools  is  very  closely  related  to  the  question  of  transportation 
facilities  and  roads.  Throughout  the  county  it  holds  true  that  in  those 
districts  accessable  to  trolley  lines  and  railroads  or  equijjped  with  good 
roads,  the  average  attendance  is  high.  In  those  districts  having  poor 
roads  and  no  other  transportation  facilities  available  for  school  pur- 
poses, the  average  attendance  is  low.  For  the  entire  county  the  average 
distance  from  the  school  to  the  home  of  the  pupil  is  about  1.2  miles, 
but  for  those  pupils  living  in  the  open  country  the  average  distance  is 
greater,  for  at  least  an  appreciable  number  travel  three  miles  or  more 
from  their  homes  to  the  school.  As  we  have  said,  there  is  only  one 
school  in  the  county  that  provides  transportation  for  its  pupils  to  the 
school.  The  State  Legislature  has  just  passed  a  "compulsory  educa- 
tion" law  which  it  is  hoped  will  make  for  a  higher  proportion  of  the  school 
population  enrolled  and  in  regular  attendance. 

In  1911  all  of  the  schools  of  the  county  graduated  09  pui)ils,  28  boys 
and  46  girls.  Of  this  number  it  is  reported  that  14  boys  and  19  girls 
went  to  higher  schools.  How  little  these  schools  have  been  attempting 
to  do  for  the  pupils  enrolled  in  them,  over  and  above  the  routine  teaching 
of  the  prescribed  lessons,  may  in  part  be  gathered  from  the  fact  that  there 
were  last  year  in  existence,  only  13  student  organizations  of  any  sort 
in  all  the  schools  of  the  county;  of  this  number  8  were  literary  and  debat- 
ing societies;  2  were  athletic  associations  and  1  was  a  boys'  brigade. 
The  total  membership  of  the  13  societies  was  about  250. 

In  1911  the  first  step  was  taken  toward  a  larger  service  to  the  boys 
in  the  schools  when  a  Corn-growing  contest  was  initiated  by  the  president 
of  the  Board  of  School  Commissioners.  This  contest  was  a  success  in 
a  small  way,  but  not  much  interest  was  manifested  in  it.  This  year 
it  is  being  repeated  under  the  auspices  of  the  Agricultural  High  School 
at  Sandy  Spring  and  will  be  made  a  permanent  feature.  A  number  of 
prizes  ranging  from  $5.00  to  $50  are  offered  and  the  contest  is  open  to 
all  boys  from  ten  to  eighteen  years  of  age.  Each  boy  must  j^lant 
one  acre  of  corn,  doing  all  the  work  himself  e.xcept  the  plowing.  The 
basis  used  in  the  awarding  of  prizes  is  40%  for  the  greatest  yield  per 
acre;  40%  for  the  best  showing  of  profit  on  the  investment  and  20% 
for  the  best  written  account  giving  the  histor>^  of  the  crop.  The  boys 
are  required  to  render  an  exact  account  of  all  the  time  spent  in  doing 
the  work  and  of  their  expenditure  for  seed,  fertilizer,  etc.  The  contest 
this  year  has  been  well  advertised  and  great  interest  is  being  shown. 

74 


Colored  Schools.  The  highest  total  enrollment  of  the  colored  schools 
for  the  year  of  1911/12  was  1,782  which  is  57.6%  of  the  colored  popula- 
tion of  school  age,  a  better  showing  than  the  white  schools  have  made 
in  this  regard.  The  total  average  attendance  was  1,087  or  60.9%  of 
the  enrollment,  a  proportionately  smaller  average  than  that  maintained 
by  the  white  schools.  The  average  attendance  per  school  was  36. 
The  average  attendance  in  the  different  districts  varies  greatly  for  no 
very  evident  reason.  The  highest  per-cent.  was  shown  by  the  Clarks- 
burg District  with  75%,  while  in  the  adjoining  district  of  Damascus  the 
average  attendance  was  only  32.5%  of  the  enrollment. 

After  the  fourth  grade  the  enrollment  begins  to  decrease  rapidly  and 
only  four  schools  have  any  pupils  enrolled  above  the  sixth  grade.  (Table 
No.  19,  Appendix,  page  VI).  These  schools  graduated  in  1911,  only  4 
pupils,  1  boy  and  3  girls,  but  it  was  reported  that  all  of  these  went  on 
to  higher  schools.  The  average  distance  from  the  school  to  the  home 
of  the  pupils  for  the  county,  is  about  one  and  a  quarter  miles. 

In  the  matter  of  organizations  for  the  pupils,  the  colored  schools  do 
even  less  than  the  white  schools,  there  being  only  four  organizations 
among  the  30  schools;  2  of  these  are  literary  societies  and  2  are  temper- 
ance societies;  they  have  a  total  membership  of  260. 

The  Curriculum 

White  Schools.  The  teacher  in  the  one-room  school  has  a  multiplicity 
of  things  to  do  and  a  very  limited  time  to  do  them  in.  This  is  the  prime 
reason  why  the  criticism  holds  true  here  as  everywhere  where  the  one- 
room  school  flourishes,  that  the  curriculum  of  the  rural  school  contains 
very  little  that  distinctly  prepares  for  country  life.  In  spite  of  the 
fact  that  conditions  are  far  better  here  than  in  many  rural  communities, 
the  fact  remains  that  each  teacher  in  the  county  must  conduct  on  the 
average,  twenty-three  recitations  per  day,  with  the  average  time  allotted 
each  recitation,  only  fifteen  minutes.  Such  a  program  leaves  opportunity 
for  very  little  beyond  the  limits  of  the  presecribed  course  of  study. 

The  greater  proportion  of  the  schools  give  no  time  at  all  to  those 
studies  which  are  of  special  importance  for  country  life  (See  Table  No. 
20,  Appendix,  page  VI);  namely,  Nature  Study,  Elementary  Agriculture, 
Manual  Training,  and  Domestic  Science.  The  same  is  true  of  Music 
and  Drawing.  Only  a  small  number  attempt  to  teach  these  subjects 
thoroughly.  Sandy  Spring  and  Brookeville  High  Schools  share  between 
them  the  entire  time  of  one  man  in  teaching  of  Elementary  Agriculture. 
Four  schools  have  each  a  special  teacher  of  Domestic  Science,  three 
schools  share  the  time  of  one  man  as  an  instructor  of  Manual  Training 
and  one  school  has  a  special  teacher  giving  her  entire  time  to  the  teaching 
of  music. 

75 


DARNESTOWN  ACADEMY 


Colored  Schools.  The  teachers  in  the  colored  schools  have  an  average 
of  twenty  recitations  per  day  each,  and  the  average  length  of  the  recita- 
tion period  is  18  minutes.  Even  less  time  is  given  in  these  schools 
than  in  the  white  schools  to  the  teaching  of  the  special  subjects  mentioned 
above.     (Table  No.  21,  Appendix,  page  VI). 

The  most  interesting  school  in  this  connection  is  the  Sharp  Street 
Industrial  School  near  Sandy  Spring.  An  industrial  exhibit  for  all  the 
colored  schools  was  held  last  spring,  and  the  results  showed  that  in  the 
schools  where  industrial  training  is  undertaken  at  all,  the  work  is  of  a 
very  high  class  all  things  considered,  and  suggested  that  here  is  a  field 
of  education  that  has  hardly  been  touched  and  which  it  would  be  well 
worth  while  to  develop. 

The  School  as  a  Social  Center 

Forty-six  white  schools  and  17  colored  schools  report  a  total  of  176 
public  entertainments  given  by  the  schools  during  the  last  school  year. 
These  were  of  various  sorts:  Lectures,  debates,  concerts,  programs 
of  miscellaneous  recitations,  mock  trials,  etc.  For  the  main  part, 
they  were  well  attended. 

The  School  Budget 

The  total  cost  of  operating  the  schools  for  the  year  1910/1911  was 
$118,355.62.  Of  this  amount,  $99,771.59  was  expended  directly  on  the 
white  schools;  $8,448.08  was  expended  directly  on  the  colored  schools;  the 
remainder,  $10,185.95,  went  for  supervision,  office  expenses,  interest, 
cancellation  of  indebtedness,  etc.     That  is  to  say,  of  every  dollar  spent, 

76 


85  cents  is  spent  on  the  white  schools,  7  cents  on  the  colored  schools,  and 
8  cents  on  adminstration,  etc.  (Table  No.  22,  on  page  VII  of  the  Ap- 
pendix is  an  itemized  account  of  how  $1  of  the  school's  money  is  spent.) 
The  average  total  cost  of  maintaining  a  white  school  is  $1,407.16  per  year; 
a  colored  school  costs  only  $379.92  per  year.  The  average  total  cost  of 
educating  each  white  pupil  in  regular  attendance  is  $40.55  per  year;  the 
annual  expense  to  the  county  of  .each  colored  pupil  is  $10.49.  The  white 
schools  cost  the  county  $568.88  per  day  in  session,  which  is  $7.48  per 
school  per  day.  The  colored  schools  cost  $81.38  per  day  in  session,  or 
$2.71  per  school  per  day.  (See  Table  No.  23,  Appendix  page  VII,  for 
total  figures  on  the  various  items  of  expense.)  From  this  it  would 
appear  that  colored  pupils  are  an  economy,  but  that  white  pupils  are,  in 
fact,  a  luxury. 

The  question  of  where  the  school's  money  comes  from  is  interesting 
from  several  points  of  view.  (Table  No.  24,  on  page  VII  of  the  Appendix, 
"Where  $1  of  the  School's  Money  Comes  From,"  is  a  statement  of  the 
various  sources  of  income.)  Just  61.7%  of  the  school's  income  is  raised 
by  taxation.  The  county's  receipts  from  the  State  school  levy  of  16| 
cents  on  each  $100  were  $26,830.41;  from  the  county  levy  of  31.4  cents 
per  $100,  $47,500.  The  total  receipts  from  all  sources  were  $120,895.90. 
The  tax  levy,  of  course,  is  on  the  basis  of  the  assessed  valuation  of  the 
property,  which  for  the  county  over  is  not  three-quarters  of  the  actual 
value,  so  that  in  point  of  fact  the  total  tax  levy  for  school  purposes  hardly 
represents  .35  per  cent.  Twenty-four  per  cent,  of  all  money  raised  is 
acquired  by  loans,  a  much  higher  per  cent,  than  in  any  other  county  in 
the  State.  For  the  entire  State,  loans  represent  only  4.6%  of  the  entire 
amount  raised.  There  is  no  way  in  which  the  school  expenses  can  be  cut 
down.  In  fact,  increased  expenditure  will  be  required  if  the  schools  are 
to  make  substantial  progress  in  the  future.  It  would  seem  that  the  tax 
payers  are  guilty  of  a  short-sighted  policy  in  compelling  the  school 
administration  to  raise  by  loans  24%  of  the  money  needed  for  necessary 
expenses. 

The  Schools  Twelve  Years  Ago 

A  bulletin  of  the  department  of  labor  prepared  by  Prof.  W.  T.  Thom 
summarizes  the  school  situation  for  the  year  1898/99  as  follows:  "In 
1898/99  the  county  had  114  public  schools,  which  were  open  nine  months. 
Of  these  81  were  white  schools,  with  100  teachers  (33  male  and  67  female) , 
82  of  the  buildings,  valued  at  $51,375,  being  owned  by  the  county,  and 
33  were  colored  schools,  with  40  teachers  (9  males  and  31  females),  25  of 
the  buildings,  valued  at  $9,615,  being  owned  by  the  coimty.  The  average 
yearly  salary  of  the  teachers  was  $328.90.  For  these  schools  the  county 
received  from  the  State  School  tax  $16,181.30;  from  the  free-school  fund, 

77 


$2,154.35;  from  State  appropriation  for  colored  schools,  $7,477.44.  The 
county  le\y  was  $30,000,  and  the  receipts  from  all  sources,  including 
balance  on  hand,  were  $59,546.60."  This  shows  that  in  most  respects 
substantial  progress  has  been  made. 

PATRONS   OF    THE   PUBLIC    SCHOOLS 

In  order  really  to  estimate  the  significance  of  the  public  school  system 
and  to  place  the  proper  value  upon  the  work  which  it  is  doing,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  ascertain  what  place  it  actually  fills  in  the  total  life  of  the  com- 
munity. The  first  step  toward  this  end  is  to  consider  the  schools  objec- 
tively, i.e.,  investigate  the  material  equipment,  the  teaching  force,  the 
enrollment  and  attendance  and  all  the  various  activities  of  each  individual 
school.  This  we  have  already  done,  but  it  is  quite  conceivable  that  one 
might  have  a  correct  understanding  of  all  these  points  and  still  fail  to 
grasp  the  significance  of  the  school.  It  is  also  necessary  to  understand 
the  attitude  of  the  people  toward  the  schools.  This  aspect  of  the  inquiry 
into  the  educational  conditions  was  undertaken  with  several  ends  in  view: 

(a)  To  discover  whether  the  school  patrons  feel  that  the  schools  as 
actually  operated  are  serving  their  respective  communities  in  a  satisfac- 
tory manner. 

(b)  To  discover  what  they  consider  the  greatest  weaknesses  of  the 
schools,  whether  as  locally  conducted  or  as  conceived  in  the  general 
"system." 

(c)  To  learn  what  they  would  suggest  in  the  way  of  improvement  and 
particularly  what  would  be  their  attitude  toward  the  adoption  of  a  policy 
of  consolidation  with  the  public  transportation  of  pupils. 

(d)  Lastly,  by  means  of  these  inquiries  it  was  hoped  that  some  light 
might  be  thrown  on  the  general  temper  and  attitude  of  the  people  of  the 
county.  Two  lines  of  approach  were  followed.  In  the  course  of  the 
general  survey  of  the  county  the  investigators  discussed  various  phases  of 
the  school  question,  both  privately  with  numbers  of  representative  men 
and  women,  and  publicly  at  meetings  of  farmers'  clubs  and  similar 
organizations.  In  addition  to  this,  that  the  results  might  be  more  repre- 
sentative of  the  entire  body  of  the  people,  a  questionaire  was  prepared. 
Copies  of  this  were  sent  by  the  superintendent  of  schools  to  all  the  teachers 
throughout  the  county,  who  were  requested  by  him  to  obtain  from  the 
heads  of  families  in  their  districts  written  answers  to  the  six  more  or 
less  pertinent  questions  on  the  blanks.    These  questions  were  as  follows: 

1.  What,  in  your  opinion,  are  the  principal  weaknesses  of  the  country 
schools? 

2.  Do  the  schools  need  a  different  course  of  study? 

3.  How  may  they  serve  the  community  other  than  as  an  ordinary  day 
school  for  children  ? 

78 


4.  Do  you  think  consolidation  of  schools  and  the  transportation  of 
pupils  in  school  wagons  feasible? 

5.  Are  the  schools  as  they  now  are  satisfactorily  progressive? 

6.  What  would  you  suggest  to  improve  them? 

The  total  number  of  public  school  patrons  in  the  county  was  roughly 
estimated  as  about  2,800,  of  which  number  2,000  were  patrons  of  white 
schools  and  800  of  the  colored.  Both  groups  were  included  in  the  inves- 
tigation. About  2,000  blanks  were  distributed  and  about  700  were 
returned  filled  out.  The  investigators  labor  under  no  delusion  as  to 
the  efficacy  of  the  questionaire  method  to  finally  exhaust  any  subject. 
They  appreciate  thoroughly  the  danger  of  trusting  too  implicitly  in  the 
accuracy  and  value  of  answers  to  set  questions  asked  in  this  fashion. 
Also,  they  realize  that  the  number  of  blanks  returned  is  hardly  a  suffi- 
cient proportion  of  the  whole  number  to  form  a  safe  basis  for  any  final 
conclusions.  The  answers,  however,  seem  quite  representative.  They 
came  from  all  classes  and  conditions  of  people  and  represent  all  degrees 
of  education  and  general  enlightenment.  Moreover,  though  differing 
widely  from  each  other  in  many  particulars  and  including  many  shades 
and  varieties  of  opinion,  there  are  yet  certain  general  lines  of  cleavage 
running  through  them  all. 

As  a  result,  then,  of  the  two  lines  of  inquiry  followed,  certain  conclu- 
sions seem  safely  established.  First  let  us  consider  the  white  schools. 
It  is  apparent  that  on  the  whole  the  county  is  proud  of  its  school  system 
and  is  satisfied  that  its  present  administration  is  making  substantial 
progress  along  the  right  lines.  Fifteen  per  cent,  of  the  patrons  answering 
would  offer  no  criticisms  at  all,  displaying  a  complacent  satisfaction 
which  hardly  argues  for  any  great  amount  of  thought  or  labor  expended 
in  making  themselves  conversant  with  the  school  situation  and  the 
problems  which  it  involves.  Sixty-five  per  cent,  however,  considered 
the  schools  as  satisfactorily  progressive  and  gave  good  reasons  for  their 
belief.  In  fact,  a  considerably  larger  proportion  endorsed  the  school 
administration,  even  while  offering  criticisms  and  suggestions  for  improve- 
ment. 

In  this  connection  a  somewhat  anomalous  situation  was  brought  to 
light.  The  chief  criticisms  advanced  were  aimed,  not  so  much  at  the 
method  of  conducting  particular  schools  or  at  any  particular  points 
in  the  methods  of  supervision  and  general  administration  practiced 
in  the  county,  as  at  the  whole  principle  involved  in  such  a  school  system. 
Implicitly  and  explicitly  the  principle  of  small,  isolated,  one-room 
schools  was  attacked.  Certain  weaknesses  inherent  in  such  a  system 
were  clearly  indicated.  Certain  remedies  fundamentally  involving  a 
departure  from  such  a  system  were  advocated.  Yet  it  was  evidently 
not  often  clear  in  the  minds  of  the  writers  where  the  remedy  for  the 

79 


defects  whicli  they  i)omtcd  out  must  inevitably  lead  or  what  sort  of  a 
reconstruction  the  reforms  which  they  suggested  would  make  necessary. 

Seventy-five  percent,  of  the  answers  received  worked  around  in  one 
way  or  another  to  certain  main  points  which  we  will  indicate.  There 
are  too  few  teachers  for  the  amount  of  work  to  be  covered.  Each  teacher 
is  compelled  to  teach  too  many  grades.  The  common  branches  are  not 
taught  with  sufficient  thoroughness  and  yet  the  special  branches,  of 
more  value  to  the  country  pupils,  cannot  be  imder taken  at  all.  There 
is  no  room  in  the  curriculum  for  specialization,  nor  would  the  teachers 
be  able  to  prepare  themselves  for  it  if  there  were.  The  salaries  are  too 
low  and  in  consequence  there  are  too  many  relatively  inefficient,  poorly 
trained  teachers.  There  is  no  proper  inducement  for  highly  trained 
men  and  women,  desirous  of  making  teaching  a  life  work  rather  than  a 
temporary  means  of  gaining  a  livelihood,  to  devote  themselves  to  the 
work  of  education  in  the  country.  The  buildings  and  equipment  are 
not  always  up  to  the  standard  and  the  rooms  are  frequently  over- 
crowded. The  work  is  not  carried  far  enough  in  those  schools  upon  which 
a  majority  of  the  pupils  are  dependent.  Eight  grades  are  offered  in  the 
one-room  schools.  In  many  sections  any  pupils  desiring  work  beyond 
that  point  must  travel  away  from  home  to  obtain  it.  This  the  children 
of  poorer  families  are  not  able  to  do  and  consequently  their  education 
is  brought  to  a  premature  close.  The  attendance  of  pupils,  particularly 
of  the  younger  pupils,  is  very  irregular  whenever  weather  and  roads  are 
bad  and  consequently  satisfactory  results  are  hard  to  obtain. 

The  demand  for  more  highly  specialized  courses  of  study  was  parti- 
cularly insistent.     There  is  a  widespread  feeling  expressed  in  many 


MAKING   THE   SCHOOL   SERVE   THE   HOME.      DOMESTIC   SCIENCE 
LAHORATORY,   ROCKVILLE   HIGH   SCHOOL 

80 


ways  that  the  country  schools  do  not  adequately  prepare  for  country  life; 
that  they  are  simply  city  schools  on  a  small  scale  and  with  poorer  equip- 
ment, removed  out  of  the  environment  to  which  they  are  best  adapted. 
Suggestions  which  found  many  supporters  had  to  do  with  the  intro- 
duction of  classes  in  agriculture  and  nature  study,  in  domestic  science 
and  manual  training  and  in  the  principles  of  business  procedure.  Such 
courses  have  already  been  introduced  into  a  number  of  the  schools 
in  the  county  with  success  and  the  outlying  districts  where  they  are 
more  needed  wish  to  share  in  their  advantages.  As  one  instance  of  this 
feeling  we  may  cite  a  meeting  of  the  Goshen  Farmers'  Club  at  which 
this  question  was  discussed  for  nearly  five  hours.  The  hypothetical 
proposition  about  which  the  discussion  revolved  was  this:  A  certain 
large  sum  of  money  is  now  raised  by  taxation  in  Montgomery  County 
for  the  support  of  the  Maryland  State  Agriculture  College.  Is  Mont- 
gomery County  getting  the  largest  possible  return  for  money  spent  in 
this  fashion  or  might  the  amount  be  more  profitable  used  for  the  pur- 
pose of  teaching  the  principles  of  agriculture  in  the  public  schools? 
The  thirty  representative  farmers  present  finally  put  themselves  on 
record  as  in  favor  of  certain  propositions,  namely,  that  the  principles 
of  scientific  agriculture  by  all  means  ought  to  be  taught  to  country 
children;  that  the  proper  medium  for  this  is  the  public  school  system; 
that,  therefor,  such  courses  ought  to  be  established  in  every  school 
and  finally  that  the  money  now  raised  for  the  support  of  the  Agricul- 
tural College  would  produce  better  results  if  used  in  that  fashion.  At 
a  meeting  of  the  Montgomery  Farmers'  Club  of  Sandy  Spring  a  similar 
proposition  received  the  general  support  of  those  present.  This  seems 
to  be  the  attitude  of  the  progressive  and  thinking  element  among  the 
farmers  throughout  the  county.  They  are  ready  to  have  the  ordinary 
branches  of  study  supplemented  by  these  special  branches.  As  we 
have  already  seen,  the  smaller  schools  are  doing  very  little  and  in  the 
nature  of  the  case  can  not  do  more  to  meet  this  demand. 

These  defects  in  the  schools,  which  we  have  mentioned  (for  they  un- 
doubtedly are  defects  and  serious  ones),  we  are  ready  to  assert  are 
inherent  in  a  system  of  isolated  one  room  schools.  While  the  one-room 
school  remains  it  will  always  be  open  to  such  criticisms.  This  is  a  con- 
dition which  the  school  administration  is  helpless  to  cope  with  unless 
public  sentiment  is  ready  to  support  them  in  a  sweeping  policy  of  re- 
construction and  reform.  They  recognize  more  clearly  than  most 
that  these  things  are  true  and  that  because  of  these  things  the  schools 
are  not  doing  anywhere  near  all  that  they  might  be  doing.  One  thing  is 
very  obvious;  in  the  present  state  of  public  enlightenment  on  the  school 
question  which,  being  interpreted, .  means  in  the  present  condition  of 
the  school  finances,  it  is  quite  impossible  to  completely  remedy  these 

81 


conditions.  The  school  administration  is  to  a  very  great  extent  de- 
pendent upon  the  sentiment  of  the  people,  not  only  to  furnish  them 
adequate  funds  but  also  to  give  them  moral  support.  Neither  of  these 
things  have  been  forthcoming  in  sufficient  quantities  to  permit  any 
very  fundamental  reconstruction. 

The  fact  is  that  only  two  ways  to  remedy  the  conditions  we  have 
mentioned  seem  open.  One  way  would  be  to  increase  the  present 
number  of  schools,  making  each  school  at  least  a  two-room  graded 
school  equipped  with  all  the  best  modern  appliances;  to  double  or  treble 
the  remuneration  offered  the  teachers,  thus  attracting  to  these  schools 
men  and  women  thoroughly  trained  and  highly  efficient,  and  in  addition 
to  provide  specialists  to  teach  the  \'arious  branches  of  agriculture, 
domestic  science,  manual  training,  business,  music  and  drawing  in 
each  and  every  school.  E\'en  this  would  not  completely  remedy  certain 
defects  and  there  are  so  many  obstacles,  both  financial  and  otherwise, 
in  its  way  that  such  a  policy  could  not  be  carried  out. 

The  other  way  is  the  logical  way  out  of  the  difficulty  under  existing 
circumstances  and  offers  the  maximum  of  advantage  with  the  minimum 
of  expenditure  and  waste.  This  is  as  rapidly  as  possible,  to  abolish 
the  cross-roads,  one-room  school  with  its  one  poorly  paid  teacher 
struggling  to  teach  thirty  or  more  pupils  in  eight  different  grades 
everything  from  the  alphabet  to  higher  mathematics,  and  consolidate 
at  convenient  centers.  Grades  of  high  school  rank  could  be  added 
to  each  such  school  and  enough  specialists  provided  to  teach  the  various 
courses  that  are  at  present  necessarily  omitted  from  the  curriculum. 
Public  transportation  could  be  provided  for  the  pupils,  thus  doing  away 
with  irregular  attendance  on  account  of  bad  weather  and  poor  roads. 
This  policy,  however,  the  people  in  those  districts  which  suffer  most 
under  the  present  system  are  not  yet  ready  to  endorse.  The  vote 
among  all  the  school  patrons  was  two  to  one  against  consolidation  with 
public  transportation  of  pupils. 

It  is  not  our  present  purpose  to  attempt  to  prepare  a  brief  for  consolida- 
tion. That  lies  quite  outside  our  province  as  Investigators.  We  would 
simply  point  out  that  in  a  Consolidated  School  it  is  quite  possible  to 
remedy  the  defects  and  meet  the  demands  we  have  mentioned;  to  broaden 
the  curriculum,  increase  the  number  of  grades  and  at  the  same  time 
raise  the  standard  of  teaching  efficiency.  Several  thousand  schools  in 
the  United  States  are  doing  this  to-day  and  doing  it  successfully.  Nor 
is  the  cost  of  this  prohibitive,  for  the  expense  of  maintaining  such  a 
school  is  but  little  more  than  the  expense  of  maintaining  the  various 
smaller  schools  which  it  displaces,  once  the  initial  cost  of  building  and 
equi])ment  is  met.  For  example  the  Baltimore  County  Agricultural 
High  School,  one  of  the  finest  and  most  complete  schools  of  its  kind 

82 


THE   ONLY   CONSOLIDATED   SCHOOL   IN   THE  COUNTY 


in  the  country,  provides  just  such  a  training  as  we  have  in  mind  and 
couples  with  an  extensive  and  varied  service  to  the  community  as  a 
whole  at  a  total  cost  per  year  of  only  $34  per  pupil.  The  schools  in 
Montgomery  County  cost  $40.55  per  pupil.  In  the  strictly  rural  schools 
the  cost  is  at  least  $30  and  surely  such  a  school  as  we  have  mentioned 
would  be  worth  $5  per  pupil  more. 

The  question  of  consolidation  is  a  point  on  which  there  needs  to  be 
much  agitation  and  a  long  process  of  public  education.  We  use  the 
term  "education"  advisedly.  At  the  present  time  the  question  is 
entirely  misapprehended  by  the  great  many  who  oppose  it.  Many 
advance  the  argument  that  public  transportation  of  school  children 
would  never  be  satisfactory  because  attended  by  such  grave  moral 
dangers  to  the  children  or  because  the  children  would  be  continually 
taking  cold  waiting  for  the  wagon.  We  would  hardly  consider  these 
difficulties,  if  they  are  difficulties,  as  being  insurmountable.  Further- 
more, we  do  not  think  that  what  is  involved  in  the  query  was  clearly 
understood  by  the  man  who  answered  by  saying:  "I  did  not  know 
that  the  schools  had  a  wagon  in  them  to  transfer  the  pupils  to  the  dif- 
ferent rooms"  or  by  the  one  who  wrote  "No,  the  children  are  away 
from  home  too  long  as  it  is",  or,  again,  by  the  man  who  declared  that 
he  did  "not  think  it  right  for  the  school  children  to  hang  on  the  wagons 
passing  along  the  road." 

Aside  from  such  criticisms  as  these  aimed  fundamentally  at  the  entire 
"system"  other  interesting  criticisms  were  made  touching  points  more 
easily  dealt  with.     For  example  many  asserted  the  chief  weakness  of 

83 


the  schools  to  be  in  the  hick  of  inteUigent  cooperation  on  the  part  of 
parents  and  trustees.  They  asserted  that  a  teacher  could  not  be  ex- 
pected to  conduct  a  school  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  a  community 
unless  she  had  such  cooperation  from  the  patrons  and  the  Board  of 
Trustees.  Others  pointed  out  defects  in  ventilation,  or  lighting,  or  sani- 
tary conveniences,  or  expressed  regret  at  the  lack  of  proper  play  grounds, 
recreational  facilities  and  attractive  surroundings.  These  things  they 
considered  an  important  part  of  the  school's  equipment.  Still  others 
very  properly  advocated  the  elimination  of  politics  from  the  school 
system.  One  wrote  in  language  that  deserves  to  become  classic:  "I 
respectfully  suggest  that  the  school  goes  to  Reno,  secures  a  divorce  from 
politics  and  sees  to  it  that  politics  gets  a  life  sentence  at  hard  labor." 

Certain  other  important  improvements  were  suggested,  as  for  example 
a  compulsory  school  attendance  law  (which,  as  we  have  said,  has  just 
been  passed  by  the  State  Legislature  to  go  into  effect  this  fall)  a  more 
uniform  and  careful  grading  of  the  schools  to  facilitate  passage  from 
one  school  to  another  in  case  of  removal;  some  system  of  moral  training; 
facilities  for  gi\ang  proper  attention  to  deficient  and  backward  children. 
These  are  all  points  deserving  careful  consideration. 

The  question  as  to  whether  the  school  could  serve  the  community 
other  than  as  an  ordinary  day  school  for  children  was  asked  with  the 
possibility  in  mind  of  making  the  school  something  of  a  neighborhood 
center  ministering  to  the  community  as  a  whole,  as  well  as  dispensing 
elementary  knowledge  to  its  youth.  Many  of  the  answers  anticipated 
this  conception  of  the  school's  possible  function.  "Make  it  a  social 
and  civic  center"  was  frequently  suggested.  "Make  it  a  place  where 
the  school  patrons  may  meet  both  formally  and  informally  to  discuss 
needs  of  mutual  interest  and  import."  Few  of  the  schools  are  at  the 
present  time  doing  anything  of  this  sort  for  their  patrons  but  this  is  a 
field  possible  of  rather  extensive  development  which  would  add  materially 
to  the  value  of  the  school  to  a  community. 

By  the  fifth  question  "are  the  schools  as  they  are  now  operated  satis- 
factorily progressive"  we  wanted  to  learn  if  the  people  felt  that  the  school 
administration  had  been  making  sufficiently  substantial  progress  in  adapt- 
ing the  schools  to  changing  conditions  and  in  keeping  up  with  the  modern 
ideas  of  school  administration,  equipment  and  teaching  methods.  Of 
course  it  was  discovered  that  there  are  those  who  have  no  conception  of 
progress  either  of  its  nature  or  of  its  reason  for  being;  who  feel  as  one 
expressed  it  "that  we  have  the  same  old  arithemetic,  a  geography  dis- 
cribing  the  same  territories  and  the  same  methods  of  spelling,  why  should 
the  school  be  progressive?"  Why  indeed?  " the  school  is  good  enough 
as  it  is  so  let  it  be."  For  the  most  part,[however,  the  attitude  of  the 
patrons  was  that  progress  is  necessary  and  that  the  schools  have  been 

84 


making  it  to  a  satisfactory  degree;  that  taking  everything  into  account, 
they  are  doing  all  that  can  reasonably  be  expected  of  them. 

Taking  the  county  over  it  is  undoubtedly  true  that  the  patrons  are 
not  sufficiently  impressed  with  their  responsibility  toward  the  school. 
We  have  already  remarked  that  the  school  provides  a  community,  in 
its  present  state  of  organization,  with  its  one  great  opportunity  to  act 
as  a  unit.  In  its  religious  life  it  is  split  up  into  denominations  and 
factions;  in  its  struggle  for  economic  advancement,  its  members  are 
working  as  individuals  and  not  as  a  group.  But  the  school  is  the  pro- 
perty of  the  whole  community  and  practically  its  only  opportunity  for 
concerted  action.  They  have,  however,  almost  uniformly  failed  to 
grasp  the  full  significance  of  this  opportunity  and  have  frequently 
hampered  the  school  administration  sometimes  by  a  total  indifference, 
sometimes  by  active  criticism  and  opposition  to  progressive  policies, 
and  always  by  not  giving  them  sufficient  funds  to  carry  out  their  plans. 
Several  happy  exceptions  are  to  be  recorded.  The  Sandy  Spring 
school  was  recently  remodeled  and  the  Woodside  school  was  built  with 
a  large  degree  of  local  help.  These  two  schools  are  receiving  the  in- 
telligent and  able  cooperation  of  their  communities. 

The  situation  as  regards  the  attitude  of  the  colored  patrons  is  simpler. 
Little  needs  to  be  said  but  that  little  may  be  said  with  emphasis.  The 
same  opinions  were  uniformly  expressed  by  intelligent  and  ignorant 
alike,  by  preacher  and  layman,  by  teacher  and  patron.  These  all  said 
in  substance  "give  us  a  longer  school  term;  give  us  better  school  build- 
ings and  equipment;  pay  our  teachers  more  nearly  adequate  salaries; 
add  to  the  curriculum  courses  in  manual  training  and  domestic  science 
and  extend  the  course  of  study  through  the  eighth  grade."  These 
points,  it  will  be  seen,  touch  the  real  weaknesses  of  the  colored 
schools. 

Three  ways  were  suggested  by  which  the  schools  might  enter  upon  a 
larger  service  for  the  colored  population.  These  were:  to  conduct  a 
night  school  for  those  who  had  been  compelled  to  leave  school  early;  to 
have  classes  in  domestic  science  and  industrial  training  out  of  school 
hours  for  any  of  the  patrons  who  felt  the  need  of  instruction  along  those 
lines;  and  lastly  to  make  of  each  school  a  social  and  civic  center.  As  to 
the  progressiveness  of  the  schools  the  opinion  was  about  evenly 
divided. 

In  general  it  must  be  said  that  the  patrons  of  these  schools  display  a 
most  commendable  interest  in  their  welfare  and  progress.  As  we  have 
said  before  in  several  instances  they  are  helping  to  keep  the  schools 
open  two  months  beyond  proscribed  term.  In  other  respects  they  are 
for  the  most  part  ready  to  assist  the  teachers  and  respond  gratefully  to 
their  influence. 

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THE   EVOLUTION   OK   A  COUNTRY   SCHOOL 
86 


The  Education  of  Adults 

It  was  hardly  possible  to  include  within  the  limits  of  a  Survey  such  as 
this  any  careful  study  of  the  question  of  the  education  of  adults.  It  was 
remarked  in  another  connection  that  the  number  of  illiterates  in  the 
white  population  is  exceedingly  small,  hardly  2%  This  is  the  only  bit 
of  information  we  have  which  can  be  stated  in  anything  approaching 
statistical  form.  Many  impressions,  however,  were  formed  as  a  result 
of  ten  weeks  spent  interviewing  hundreds  of  peo]:)le  in  all  parts  of  the 
county.  These  impressions  are  perhaps  as  reliable  a  source  of  informa- 
tion on  this  point  as  figures  would  be. 

The  general  educational  level  of  the  county  is  high.  Various  reasons 
may  be  assigned  for  this:  the  excellence  of  the  public  school  system, 
the  proximity  of  the  City  of  Washington,  the  ready  and  constant  com- 
munication which  all  parts  of  the  county  have  with  the  outside  world. 
The  fact  that  the  population  is  to  so  great  an  extent  an  American  stock 
with  very  slight  foreign  element  is  important  here;  the  recent  tide  of 
Southern  European  and  Slavonic  immigration  has  hardly  touched  this 
county.  The  conditions  here  are  favorable  to  the  development  of  an 
highly  intelligent  people  and  this  is  in  the  main  what  we  find.  Judging 
by  the  literature  in  the  homes,  by  the  general  conversation,  by  the 
acquaintance  with  the  problems  of  the  day  and  other  similar,  objective 
tests,  it  is  abundantly  evident  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  population 
are  well-informed,  cultured  beyond  the  average  for  an  agricultural  sec- 
tion, and,  for  the  most  part,  reasonably  modern  and  progressive. 

The  stability  of  the  population  and  the  tenacity  with  which  they 
naturally  cling  to  their  old  ideas  and  traditions  tend  to  make  them  a  little 
suspicious  of  innovation.  A  man  who  has  been  living  here  for  less  than 
ten  years  is  hardly  thought  of  as  a  permanent  resident  yet;  he  is  still  a 
"new  comer."  There  is  a  deep-rooted  feeling,  not  always  expressed  but 
sufficiently  understood,  against  any  attempt  on  the  part  of  such  a  "new 
comer"  to  change  the  established  order  and  custom.  Many  influences 
are  at  work,  however,  to  break  down  this  prejudice.  Economic  pressure, 
for  one  thing,  is  forcing  the  adoption  of  new  methods  in  business  and 
agriculture.  Social  changes  are  erasing  old  lines.  New  ideas  have 
found  expression  in  the  schools.  These  are  forces  to  which  the  entire 
county  most  ultimately  respond. 

PRIVATE   SCHOOLS   AND    COLLEGES 

There  are  a  number  of  private  and  educational  institutions  in  the 
county  but  only  two  of  them  are  of  direct  local  importance,  so  our  treat- 
ment of  them  may  be  brief.  The  Rockville  Academy  has  practically 
the  same  course  as  the  public  schools,  beginning  with  the  sixth  grade 
and  continuing  through  the  High  School.     It  has  a  faculty  of  two  and  an 

87 


enrollment  of  about  35  to  40.  Its  pupils  are  drawn  from  Rockville  and 
vicinity.  There  is  also  a  Primary  School  conducted  in  Rockville  with  an 
enrollment  of  about  20.  The  pupils  here  are  all  from  Rockville.  This 
school  is  held  in  a  private  home,  which  is,  however,  very  conveniently 
arranged.  The  Academy  has  a  well-equipped  brick  building  with  fine 
grounds.  It  was  first  chartered  over  100  years  ago.  In  addition  to 
these  two  we  may  mention  a  Military  School  for  boys  which  will  be 
opened  in  Poolesville  this  fall. 

There  are  two  Girls'  Schools  in  the  County,  the  Chevy  Chase  College 
and  the  National  Park  Seminary  at  Forest  Glen.  These  draw  all  their 
patronage  from  outside  the  county.  They  have  some  effect  upon  the 
social  and  educational  life  of  their  respective  neighborhoods  and  furnish 
employment  for  numbers  of  residents,  but  otherwise  are  not  of  local 
importance.     Each  school  has  beautiful  grounds  and  splendid  buildings. 

The  Bliss  Electrical  School  at  Takoma  Park  offers  a  one-year  course 
in  electrical  engineering  and  kindred  branches.  It  has  two  buildings 
for  class  rooms  and  laboratories  and  several  dormitories.     None  of  its 


MAP  NO.    II — LOCATION  OF  CHURCHES 


students  are  from  the  county.  The  only  other  school  in  the  county  is  a 
denominational  one — the  Seventh  Day 'Adventist  Foreign  Missionary 
Seminary  at  Takoma  Park.  A  few  pupils  from  Takoma  Park  enter 
this  school  for  high  school  branches,  but  their  number  is  never  great. 
The  majority  of  the  students  come  from  other  states  to  prepare  for  work 
on  the  foreign  mission  fields. 

RELIGIOUS    CONDITIONS   AND   ACTIVITIES 

There  are  in  all  in  Montgomery  County  at  the  present  time  135 
churches  in  various  conditions  of  health  and  activity.  Of  this  number 
95  are  white  churches  and  40  are  colored.  It  will  be  more  convenient 
to  consider  these  two  groups  separately,  treating  the  white  churches  first. 

(a)  Distribution 

The  total  area  of  the  county  is  521  square  miles  and  its  total  white 
population  is  22,847.  If  the  churches  were  evenly  distributed  there 
would  be  one  white  church  to  every  b}4  square  miles  and  to  every  244 
people.  This  ratio  would  provide  more  than  adequate  church  facilities 
for  the  entire  county.  As  regards  the  various  Election  Districts  the 
distribution  is  quite  uniform.  There  is  no  district  without  its  fair 
quota,  and  no  point  in  the  county  more  than  five  miles  from  some  church. 
As  regards  the  distribution  of  the  population,  however,  the  churches  are 
not  evenly  distributed.  Fifteen  per-cent.  of  the  population  live  in  the 
towns  and  villages  and  85%  live  in  the  open  country.  Yet  the  country 
claims  only  55%  of  the  churches.  Many  of  the  town  churches  must  rely 
for  support  upon  the  country,  and  many  people  in  the  country  must  look 
to  the  towns  for  their  church  life. 

(b)  Denominational  Classification,  Membership  and  Growth 

Eighty-six  of  the  chiu"ches  are  Protestant  and  9  are  Roman  Catholic. 
The  Protestant  churches  represent  15  different  denominations.  The 
bulk  of  their  strength,  however,  is  divided  between  5  denominations;  9 
denominations  have  3  churches  or  less.  It  is  not  our  desire  to  emphasis 
the  division  of  these  churches  into  denominations.  We  hope  that  the 
day  of  denominational  rivalry  is  passing  and  that  all  are  coming  to  regard 
the  question  of  ability  to  serve  a  given  community  efficiently  as  the  only 
important  question.  On  page  VII,  of  the  Appendix  will  be  found  a  table 
showing  denominational  strength  with  respect  to  number  of  churches, 
membership,  property,  etc.  Through  the  remainder  of  our  discussion 
no  distinction  will  be  made  except  between  Protestant  and  Catholic. 

The  total  membership  of  all  churches  is  9,701,  of  whom  6,994  are 
Protestants  and  2,707  Catholic.  It  is  hardly  possible  to  make  a  fair 
comparison  here  since  the  Catholic  churches  count  in  their  membership 


all  nicniljcrs  of  families  whose  heads  are  aftiliated  wiLli  the  church. 
Throughout  this  section,  except  where  otherwise  specified,  only  the  Pro- 
testant churches  will  he  referred  to.  Of  the  total  white  ])opulation,  a 
little  o\er  2(),()00  may  be  considered  as  Protestant  or  at  least  as  non- 
Catholic.  This  means  that  every  Protestant  church  has,  on  the  average, 
a  possible  membership  of  234.  Just  how  well  this  possible  field  is  culti- 
vated may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  the  a\'erage  membership  of 
each  church  is  only  81.  Hardly  35%  of  the  population  are  in  the 
churches.  This  average  membership  includes  a  number  of  weak  de- 
nominations; 9  denominations  with  15  churches  average  only  35  members 
per  church. 

Sixty-two  of  the  churches  are  growing;  3  are  simply  marking  time; 
16  are  losing  ground  more  or  less  rapidly;  5  are  already  on  their  death 
beds.  Ten  other  churches  not  included  in  the  total  have  passed  away 
within  recent  years  and  must  be  numbered  with  the  departed.  Twenty- 
eight  percent  of  the  churches  still  in  existence  are  not  growing.  We 
are  accustomed  to  reading  of  rural  communities  that  less  than  half  of 
their  churches  are  growing.  Even  so,  to  find  that  one  out  of  every  four 
churches  has  ceased  to  grow,  or  has  not  yet  begun,  might  be  considered 
as  raising  a  serious  problem  of  church  efficiency.  The  mortality  rate 
among  humans  is  hardly  as  great  as  that  among  country  churches. 
This  failure  of  the  church  to  survive  may  mean  that  its  methods  of  work 
are  defective  and  that  it  has  been  unable  to  adapt  itself  to  changing 
conditions  or  to  meet  the  demands  of  rural  life.  Here,  the  fact  that 
the  churches  are  really  influencing  only  one-third  of  the  population 
and  that  more  than  a  fourth  of  them  are  failing  to  hold  their  own,  is  in 
part  to  be  ex^Dlained  in  this  way;  but  in  larger  part  it  seems  to  mean 
that  a  certain  proportion  of  the  churches  have  been  wrongly  placed; 
have  been  established  where  they  have  no  legitimate  opportunity  for 
growth,  as  the  result,  it  may  be,  of  some  denominational  rivalry  or 
neighborhood  prejudice.  A  weeding  out  process  has  been  going  on — 
a  sort  of  natural  selection.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  progress  of  the  church 
as  a  whole  has  been  substantial.  In  1906  (the  year  of  the  United  States 
Religious  Census),  the  total  membership  of  all  white  Protestant  churches 
was  5,456.  Since  that  time  the  total  population  of  the  county  has  in- 
creased less  than  5%  and  outside  of  the  Suburban  Sections  has  actually 
decreased.  Yet  the  churches  have  made  a  growth  in  membership  of 
1,538,  or  28.2%.  This  is  as  good  a  record  as  could  be  asked  for.  During 
the  last  church  year,  682  were  added  to  the  roll,  489  by  confession  or 
confirmation,  representing  an  addition  of  more  than  10%  of  the  previous 
strength.  All  but  18  churches,  or  about  80%  of  the  total  number  re- 
ported additions;  the  average  number  per  church  was  8. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  entire  membership  of  the  churches 

90 


A     otbru      ot  nrre.^teA   Oevelope.meT-,t~ 


Pr~ote\to.rTit-  Whi li'    and    Golored.-    C^u.rc^es 


6   C  hurc  /lej- 
-Whi  te- 


V-0    Churche^,- 
-Colored- 


2  8   "/o 


Not  Grow 


60  % 
Not  Qrowin 


f 


niAGRAM   NO.   VI 


is  an  active  membership.  Many  church  rolls  need  pruning.  But  in 
the  lack  of  any  more  definite  tests  which  could  be  applied  it  may  be  said 
that  something  like  5%  appear  to  have  ceased  their  support  of  the  church. 

(c)  The  Church's  Equipment  for  Service 

The  86  Protestant- churches  have  80  church  buildings.  These  are  of 
all  sorts,  ranging  from  the  large,  many-roomed  building  equipped  with 
all  modern  conveniences  to  serve  the  community  in  manifold  ways,  down 
to  the  little  one-room  structure,  with  bare  interior,  equipped  with  nothing 
but  a  pulpit,  some  pews,  a  stove  and  a  bell.  Forty-four  of  these  church 
buildings  are  one-room.  These  and  a  considerable  number  of  the  others 
were  built  with  the  one  idea  of  the  church  as  a  place  in  which  to  hold  a 
preaching  service.  Hardly  a  fourth  of  the  churches  have  rooms  which 
are  well  adapted  for  the  use  of  their  Sunday-schools.  This  statement 
must  be  qualified.  Many  of  the  buildings  are  adequate  for  the  needs 
of  the  particular  Sunday-schools  which  meet  in  them  and  according  to 
the  conception  of  a  Sunday-school  which  prevails  in  many  churches. 
But  the  modern  Sunday-school  as  we  conceive  it  requires  more  than  a 

91 


small  open  auditoriuiii.  One  Church,  the  M.  E.  S.  of  Rockville,  has 
a  special  12-room  Sunday-school  building  erected  three  years  ago  at  a 
cost  of  $3,000.  Its  Sunday-school  is  thriving.  Other  buildings,  put 
up  within  recent  years,  have  been  planned  with  this  need  of  separate  class 
rooms  in  mind.  But  the  proportion  of  the  total  number  is  still  very  small. 
The  entire  amount  invested  in  church  property  for  these  86  churches 
is  $364,757,  an  average  of  $4,395  per  church.  This  is  nearly  three  times 
the  amount  invested  in  school  property.  All  the  churches  together 
have  about  110  acres  of  ground;  the  average  for  the  country  churches  is 
about  2>^  acres  per  church.  Twenty-eight  of  the  church  lots  are  fenced; 
56  have  good  shade  trees.  In  general  the  grounds  of  the  country  churches 
receive  poor  care;  lawns  not  well  kept;  grass  and  weeds  around  the 
church  uncut;  trees  un trimmed;  whole  appearance  rather  unkempt. 
The  town  and  village  churches,  for  the  most  part,  fare  better.  Thirty-one 
churches  have  cemeteries  adjoining  them .   Twenty-nine  have  parsonages . 

(d)  The  Working  Force 

There  are  44  ministers  working  regularly  in  the  county,  of  whom  39 
are  Protestant  and  5  Catholic.  There  are  three  churches,  Friend  and 
Christian  Science,  which  do  not  have  regular  paid  ministers;  eight  other 
churches  are  at  the  present  time  pastorless.  The  39  Protestant  minis- 
ters are  in  charge  of  75  churches.  Fifteen  are  able  to  devote  their  entire 
time  to  single  churches;  13  have  two  churches  each;  3  have  three  churches; 
7  have  four  churches;  1  has  five.  Several  have  churches  in  adjoining 
counties.  Here  we  see  the  remnants  of  the  old  system  of  farming  out 
churches  on  circuits,  which  has  always  constituted  the  great  weakness 
of  the  country  church.  The  circuit  system  means  the  lessening  of  the 
efficiency  of  the  church  as  a  working  force.  Here  the  conditions  are 
better  than  in  the  majority  of  country  communities,  but  they  are  still 
far  from  ideal.  He  is  an  optimist  indeed  who  hopes  that  the  consolidated 
church  will  come  with  the  consolidated  school;  yet  this  would  undoubt- 
edly be  the  solution  of  many  of  the  churches'  most  urgent  problems. 

Nineteen  of  the  Protestant  ministers  live  in  towns,  while  twenty  live 
in  small  villages  or  the  open  country.  All  but  ten  live  within  the  limits 
of  their  respective  parishes.  But  the  man  who  has  from  two  to  five 
churches  has  a  large  parish.  Some  of  his  churches  must  be  without  a 
resident  minister.  In  point  of  fact,  26  of  the  75  churches  over  which 
these  men  have  charge  have  resident  pastors,  and  49  are  without  a 
resident  minister.  Of  course  it  will  be  said  that  many  of  these  churches 
are  quite  unable  to  support  a  minister  on  full  time,  which  is  quite  true. 
But  again  the  answer  is  the  same.  Some  sort  of  consolidation  is  neces- 
sary before  the  church  will  be  able  to  give  the  best  service  to  the  country 
community. 

92 


(e)  The  Church's  Service  to  the  Community 

(1)  As  a  preaching  centre:  fifty  churches  have  preaching  service  e very- 
Sunday;  41  have  service  every  other  Sunday;  4  have  service  every  fourth 
Sunday.  That  is  to  say,  this  is  the  arrangement  when  they  have  service. 
At  the  present  time,  there  are  7  churches  which  have  no  service  and 
several  others  in  which  the  service  is  not  regular. 

The  average  aggregate  attendance  at  the  Protestant  Churches  for  a 
single  service  is  about  7,200.  On  any  given  Sunday  there  are  present 
in  all  the  churches  holding  service  on  that  day  an  average  of  4,400  peo- 
ple, or  13.4%  of  the  entire  population.  Each  Sunday  sees  22%  of  the 
Protestant  population  in  the  churches.  While  there  is  probably  only 
a  small  percent,  of  the  population  who  do  not  attend  church  at  all,  there 
is  a  comparatively  large  percent,  who  will  not  attend  regularly.  This 
would  vary  somewhat  in  the  different  districts;  it  would  be  small  in 
Olney  and  Damascus,  and  large  in  Laytonsville,  Clarksburg  and  Poto- 
mac.    About  38%  of  the  normal  church  congregation  are  men. 

(2)  As  an  organized  force:  one  of  the  most  important  forms  of  the 
church's  service  to  the  community  is  that  which  it  renders  through 
its  organizations.  Diagram  No.  VII  indicates  the  equipment  of  the 
Protestant  churches  in  this  respect.  All  but  ten  of  the  churches, 
it  will  be  noticed,  have  Sunday-schools;  53  have  women's  organizations 
of  some  sort;  37  have  Young  People's  organizations;  five  have  organiza- 
tions for  men.  Twenty-six  out  of  86  churches  have  no  organizations 
except  a  Sunday-school.     First  let  us  consider  the  Sunday-schools. 

Seventy-seven  is  the  total  number  of  Protestant  Sunday-schools  in 
the  county.  Fifty-eight  of  these  are  in  session  throughout  the  year;  the 
remainder  suspend  operations  for  three  months  or  more  of  each  year. 
The  Sunday-school  like  the  public  day  school  has  education  for  its  object. 


the      L-'nurch 


^3 


0, 


r^'j' 


li. 


rcote^Ta-nT  Churche^  -  White- 


ib    Churc/ie^ 


76    6"n<Jai^    cScAoo/j  Si   VVom.nj 


37  Youn., 


P«op/, 


A 

5 


iXiey    Or.j<in.jar,oT,^ 


DIAGRAM   NO.   VII 
93 


It  differs  from  the  latter  only  in  its  function,  which  is  to  teach  religion 
and  morality.  We  have  a  right  to  expect  the  Sunday-school  to  perform 
its  special  function  as  efficiently  as  the  day  school  performs  its  own. 
A  comparison  of  the  two  at  several  points  is  interesting. 

The  total  membership  of  all  Sunday-schools  is  5,537,  an  average  of 
72  to  the  school.  Of  this  number  approximately  3,600  are  between  the 
ages  of  5  and  20.  The  total  white  Protestant  jjopulation  between  these 
ages  is  about  6,750: 51%  of  this  number  are  enrolled  in  the  public  schools, 
46%  in  the  Sunday-schools.  The  day  schools,  moreover,  show  a  better 
average  attendance.  The  regular  attendance  here  represents  35%  of 
the  total  number  of  school  age  and  67.3%  of  the  enrollment.  The  attend- 
ance upon  the  Sunday-schools  represents  only  53.8%  of  the  enrollment 
and  28.7%  of  the  total.  The  total  average  attendance  per  Sunday  is 
3,360,  43.5  per  school. 

The  77  schools  have  521  teachers  (173  males  and  348  females),  about 
seven  teachers  per  school,  and  one  teacher  for  every  10  pupils  enrolled. 
The  public  schools  have  128  teachers  (27  males  and  101  females),  one  to 
every  30  pupils.  In  the  smaller  class  groups,  other  things  equal,  it  ought 
to  be  easier  to  hold  the  pupils  and  the  Sunday-schools  by  this  token 
should  show  at  least  as  high  a  proportionate  attendance  as  the  public 
schools.  At  least  a  part  of  the  explanation  of  this  may  be  that  only 
five  Sunday-schools  in  the  county  are  making  any  attempt  whatsoever 
to  train  their  teachers,  that  there  are  almost  no  organized  departments 
or  classes,  and  that  not  a  half-dozen  schools  are  using  graded  lessons. 
The  teachers  are  conscientious  Christian  men  and  women  who  are  giving 
the  best  service  of  which  they  are  capable.  But  before  the  Sunday- 
school  can  hold  its  own  as  an  educational  institution  these  men  and 
women  must  also  be  given  some  special  training.  The  art  of  teaching 
may  itself  be  taught.  It  has  been  said  that  the  minister  might  better 
take  the  farmer  from  his  plow  and  put  him  in  the  jiulpit  than  give  him 
charge  over  a  Sunday-school  class  without  some  special  training.  In  the 
former  event,  he  would  not  be  dealing  with  such  i)lastic  and  impression- 
able material.  The  Sunday-school  is  the  strategic  point  in  the  church's 
field  of  work  but  it  is  not  receiving  by  any  means  the  careful  attention 
that  it  should  receive.  It  is  quite  as  important  to  train  the  teachers 
of  the  young  as  the  preachers  to  the  old. 

Other  organizations:  there  are  38  young  peoj^le's  organizations  with 
a  total  membership  of  1,381.  These  societies  meet  for  the  most  part 
weekly.  Forty-nine  churches  are  without  any  form  of  organization  for 
their  young  people.  Women's  societies  number  68  with  a  membership 
of  1,525.  These  are  chiefly  of  two  sorts.  Ladies'  Aid  Societies  and 
Mission  Study  Societies.  Thirty-three  churches  are  without  any 
women's  organizations.  But  very  little  effort  has  been  made  to  organize 

94 


Where     fhe    Children    are- 

loTo^l     ropula.tto-n  — 


DIAGRAM   NO.   VIII 


the  men  in  the  churches.  There  are  5  men's  organizations  with  a  mem- 
bership of  82.  Eighty-one  churches  have  no  organizations  for  their 
men.  There  are  also  5  other  organizations  with  a  membership  of  127. 
The  total  number  of  organizations  of  all  sorts  is  116,  and  the  total  mem- 
bership is  3,302.  Twenty-six  churches  have  no  organizations  except  the 
Sunday-school  while  20  have  none  of  any  kind. 

It  is  a  matter  of  surprise,  in  view  of  the  usual  method  of  conducting 
the  church  finances,  that  there  are  thirty- three  churches  which  are 
able  to  survive  without  a  woman's  society  to  raise  money.  And  in 
fact  few  of  the  33  are  really  flourishing  financially.  The  really  weak 
point,  however,  is  the  absence  of  any  organized  effort  to  get  and  hold 
the  young  people  and  the  men.  The  church  is  here  neglecting  not  only 
an  effective  method  of  religious  work  but  also  an  opportunity  to  teach 
men  the  needed  lesson  of  cooperation  in  all  their  affairs  by  helping  them 
to  practice  it  in  their  church  life. 

(3)  As  a  Social  Centre:  Unfortunately  there  is  but  little  to  be  said 
under  this  caption  and  it  is  one  of  those  topics  in  connection  with  which 
a  lack  of  material  is  in  itself  the  gravest  indictment.  The  truth  of  the 
matter  is  that  the  church  as  a  whole  is  making  but  very  little  effort  to 
serve  the  community  as  a  social  centre.  Not  even  the  church  feels 
itself  obligated  to  furnish  recreation  and  social-life  facilities  for  their 
own  sake.  The  greater  part  of  the  church's  social  activities  are  under- 
taken for  the  sake  of  the  money  to  be  raised  by  them.  We  have  spoken 
before  of  the  festive  Strawberry  and  the  Oyster,  first  aids  to  the  budget. 
When  their  ministrations  have  been  mentioned  and  the  annual  picnic, 

95 


ONE  OF  THE  BEST  CHURCHES  IN  THE  COUNTY 


which  we  discussed  in  another  connection,  recalled,  our  list  is  nearly 
exhausted.  Not  15%  of  the  churches  have  any  other  sort  of  social 
activity.  Of  course  churches  vary,  but  in  general  their  social  life  is  at 
rather  a  low  ebb. 

(f)  The  Community's  Service  to  the  Church 

The  aggregate  annual  budget  for  all  Protestant  churches  is  $88,519. 
Thirty -five  and  three- tenths  cents  of  each  dollar  of  the  church's  money 
is  for  the  minister's  salary.  The  total  amount  expended  in  salaries  per 
year  is  $31,247,  and  the  average  per  minister  is  $842,  the  maximum  being 
$1,500  and  the  minimum  $250.  Each  church  expends  an  average  of 
$381  on  its  minister  (for  25  churches  in  two  denominations  with  15 
ministers  the  average  is  much  higher;  these  two  denominations  pay  an 
average  salary  of  $1,050:  each  church  having  as  its  average  expenditure 
$625).  Very  few  of  the  ministers  have  any  source  of  income  other  than 
their  salaries.    Twenty-nine  are  furnished  with  parsonages. 

Twenty-four  cents  of  each  dollar  is  contributed  toward  the  various 
benevolences  of  the  church,  practically  all  of  it  going  to  the  estabhshed 
Boards  of  the  different  denominations.  Only  two  churches  have  any 
system  of  local  benevolences.  Three  and  three-tenths  cents  is  the  cost  of 
maintaining  the  Sunday-schools,  while  the  remaining  37.4  cents  is  re- 

96 


quired  for  the  up-keep  of  the  church  property  and  other  running  expenses. 
The  average  for  benevolences  per  church  is  $259,  for  Sunday-school  $36 
and  for  other  expenses  $404.  The  average  total  annual  budget  per 
church  is  $1,080.  It  has  usually  been  concluded  that  the  greater  part 
of  the  expenditures  of  the  Country  Churches  is  for  the  perpetuation 
of  their  own  denominational  institutions.  This  in  itself  is  of  course  a 
very  important  form  of  service  to  society.  There  is,  however,  little 
attempt  to  serve  communities  in  any  broad  sense  outside  of  denomina- 
tional limits  and  independent  of  denominational  agencies. 

The  76  white  schools  with  their  total  enrollment  of  3,927  cost  the 
county  nearly  $100,000  for  a  year.  Eighty-six  white  churches  with  a 
total  membership  of  6,994  cost  $88,500.  Figuring  on  the  basis  of  the 
direct  expenditure  i)lus  the  interest  on  the  amount  invested  in  property, 
as  a  rent  equivalent,  every  day  a  school  is  actually  opened  for  school 
purposes  the  average  cost  is  $8.00.  Every  day  a  church  is  actually  in 
use  the  average  cost  is  $20.90.  If  the  total  cost  of  maintaining  the 
churches  were  equally  distributed  among  all  the  members,  and  if  the 
Oyster  and  the  Strawberry  did  not  cooperate  in  raising  the  money, 
the  annual  cost  to  each  member  would  be  $12.66. 

Two  churches  in  the  county  are  endowed,  sharing  between  them  the 
income  from  $74,830. 


A   RECTORY  IN   THE   OPEN  COUNTRY 
97 


(g)  The  Church's  Program 

To  Whom  It  Ministers.  The  gravest  criticism  which  we  can  make  of 
those  churches  of  the  county  which  minister  to  the  farming  population, 
a  criticism  which  we  are  repeatedly  compelled  to  make,  is  that  their  ser- 
vice is  not  a  community  service  but  a  class  service.  The  pastors  of  38 
such  churches  replied  to  the  question,  "What  proportion  of  the  adult 
male  members  of  your  congregation  are  farm  owmers;  what  proportion 
are  tenants?"  One  fourth  replied  that  there  were  practically  no  tenants 
in  their  churches.  Thirty  churches  reported  from  85  to  100%  owners; 
6  reported  from  50  to  85%  owners;  2  reported  as  many  tenants  as  owners. 
Moreover,  these  churches  seemed  satisfied  that  this  should  be  the  case; 
that  in  only  one  out  of  every  five  churches  should  the  proportion  of 
tenants  to  owoiers  be  as  high  as  the  proportion  to  the  entire  number  of 
farm  operators  in  the  county.  Just  why  the  church  does  not  reach  the 
tenant  farmer  is  a  question  difl&cult  to  answer.  He  is  a  less  stable 
element  of  the  population  than  the  owner;  his  term  of  occupancy  is 
relatively  short;  moreover,  in  this  county,  he  is  usually  less  prosperous, 
the  conditions  of  his  life  are  harder  and  there  is  a  smaller  amount  of 
surplus  energy  to  be  turned  into  religious  activity.  Nevertheless  it  is 
exceedingly  unfortunate  that  a  fourth  of  the  farming  population  should 
be  so  largely  eliminated  from  the  church's  program. 

How  It  Ministers.  In  the  discussion  of  the  Sunday-schools,  attention 
was  called  to  the  fact  that  the  architecture  of  most  of  the  churches  is 
such  that  they  are  very  poorly  adapted  for  Sunday-schools  and  similar 

branches  of  church  w^ork.  The 
churches  have  been  planned  and  built 
as  auditoriums  in  which  sermons  may 
be  delivered.  This  is  because  the 
emphasis  of  the  religion  which  estab- 
lished them  has  been  and  still  is  so 
largely  individual.  The  mission  of  the 
church  has  not  been  conceived  as  a 
social  mission.  This  remains  the  great 
reason  why  these  churches  have  been 
so  slow  in  assuming  their  rightful  places 
as  the  centres  of  community  life. 

THE  COLORED  CHURCHES 
(a)  Distribution 

The  Colored  Churches  are  not  so 

e\'enly    distributed    throughout    the 

county  as  are  the  white  churches  for 

A  GOOD  I'ARsoN  the  rcason  that  the  colored  population 


98 


I  he.      L^hutrch    and     the    /eop/e- 


T't^ote.^to.yit    Foou.lo.ti  on 


V/h'ite-  Coloreci- 

DIAGRAM  NO.  IX 

itself  is  not  so  evenly  distributed .  The  churches  of  course  follow  the  distri- 
bution of  the  population  and  most  of  them  are  in  or  near  colored  settlements. 
There  are  40  churches  in  all,  one  to  every  231of  the  colored  population. 

(b)  Denominational  Classification,  Membership  and  Growth 

There  are  three  denominations  at  work  in  the  county,  Baptist, 
M.  E.  and  A.  M.  E.  Zion  (Table  No.  25,  Appendix,  page  VII).  The  M.  E. 
Denomination  has  more  than  half  of  the  churches.  The  total  member- 
ship of  all  churches  is  1,981,  only  21.2%  of  the  population.  The  average 
membership  is  49.5.  That  is  to  say  each  church  is  reaching  hardly  more 
than  a  fourth  of  its  possible  following. 

At  almost  every  point  the  colored  churches  are  much  more  inefficient 
than  the  white  churches.  Not  only  have  they  a  smaller  proportion  of 
their  population  enrolled  in  the  churches  but  their  efforts  at  progress 
are  in  comparison  feeble.  In  1906  the  approximate  membership  of  all 
colored  churches  was  1,786.  In  six  years  there  has  been  a  net  increase  of 
195  or  10.8%  as  against  28.2%  for  the  white  churches.  During  the  last 
church  year  the  total  number  of  additions  was  153,  of  which  one  denomi- 
nation had  147.  This  was  a  gross  increase  for  the  year  of  8.3%.  Only 
15  of  the  40  churches  are  growing  at  the  present  time;  10  are  stationary; 
10  are  steadily  losing  ground,  while  5  are  unmistakably  dying.  These 
churches  all  cling  to  life  with  a  remarkably  tenacious  grip.  They  almost 
never  make  an  end  of  dying;  yet  very  few  of  them  have  anything  like 
robust  health. 

99 


ONE   OF   THE   BEST  COLORED  CHURCHES  IN   THE   COUNTY 

(c)  The  Equipment  for  Service 

There  are  37  church  buildings  valued  at  $37,260,  the  average  value 
being  about  $1,000.  Thirty-two  of  these  are  one-room.  Perhaps  a  fourth 
of  them  are  in  reasonably  good  condition;  the  remainder  are  in  various 
stages  of  delapidation  and  decay.  Several  buildings,  notably  the  M.  E. 
and  the  A.  M.  E.  in  Rockville  are  brick  structures,  better  than  many 
of  the  white  churches.  All  these  churches,  even  more  than  those  we  ha\e 
already  discussed,  are  adapted  for  the  preaching  service  only.  Not 
one  of  them  is  really  convenient  for  the  Sunday-schools. 


(d)  The  Working  Force 

There  are  18  ministers  in  charge  of  38  churches.  Two  churches  are  at 
present  pastorless.  Six  of  these  men  have  each  a  single  church;  7  have 
two  churches,  2  three  churches  and  3  four  churches  each.  On  the  face 
of  it  this  seems  like  a  fair  record,  but  it  looks  better  than  it  is,  for  with 
two  possible  exceptions  the  churches  which  ha\e  a  man  on  full  time  are 
in  a  poorer  condition  than  many  of  those  on  circuits.  Six  of  the  minis- 
ters live  in  towns;  12  live  in  the  country  or  in  villages.  All  but  3  live 
within  their  parishes.  A  number  of  these  men  are  exceptionally  able 
and  well-cqui])i)cd  men  who  are  rendering  valuable  service. 

100 


(e)  The  Church's  Service  to  the  Community 

As  a  preaching  centre:  12  of  the  40  churches  have  a  service  every  Sun- 
day; 24  have  2  services  a  month;  4  have  one  service  a  month.  The  total 
attendance  in  all  churches  holding  service  on  an  average  Sunday  is  a 
little  more  than  a  thousand. 

As  an  organized  force:  38  of  the  churches  have  Sunday-schools,  of 
which  28  are  in  session  through  the  year;  ten  are  in  session  from  6  to  9 
months.  The  total  membership  of  these  schools  is  1,402,  and  the  total 
average  attendance  is  991.  This  is  an  average  membership  and  attend- 
ance per  school  of  37  and  26  respectively.  There  are  in  all  164  teachers, 
one  to  every  6  pupils  in  regular  attendance. 

There  are  15  Young  People's  organizations  with  a  membership  of 
418,  7  women's  societies  with  a  membership  of  370,  3  organizations 
for  men  with  a  membership  of  33  and  2  other  organizations  with  a  mem- 
bership of  75.  This  makes  a  total  of  37  organizations  with  an  aggregate 
membership  of  896.  Twenty-five  churches  have  no  organization  for 
Young  People,  43  have  none  for  women,  38  have  none  for  men.  Eigh- 
teen have  no  organizations  at  all  except  the  Sunday-school. 

As  a  Social  Centre.  The  colored  church  appears  to  occupy  a  larger 
place  socially  in  the  lives  of  its  members  than  does  the  white  church. 
The  great  majority  of  the  churches  have  some  regular  social  feature. 
The  relation  between  the  church,  the  school  and  the  lodge  is  usually  a 
close  one;  close  as  their  respective 
buildings  which  are  frequently  built 
upon  the  same  lot.  Most  of  the  en- 
tertainments held  have  the  same 
financial  significance  as  in  the  white 
churches;  but  their  social  significance 
is  also  great. 

(f)  The   Community's   Service    to 

the  Church 

The  annual  budgets  of  the  churches 
total  $10,867,  an  average  of  about  $272 
per  church.  Of  this  amount,  $6,560 
is  for  salaries.  The  average  salary  is 
$364.45;  the  maximum  is  $748  and 
the  minimum  $50.  If  the  total  ex- 
penditure were  equally  distributed 
among  the  members  it  would  amount 
to  $5.48  per  year.  The  annual  ex- 
penditure on  the  colored  schools  is 
$11,393.62.       Figuring  in   the   same 

101 


AN  HUMBLE  COLORED  CHURCH 


manner  as  with  the  budgets  of  the  white  churches  and  schools,  the 
colored  schools  cost  $2.86  each  per  day  in  use  and  the  colored  churches, 
$5.54. 

RELIGIOUS   STATUS 

In  its  general  religious  status  Montgomery  County  is  above  the 
average.  Church  facilities  are  more  than  ample.  On  the  side  of  the 
people  it  should  be  said  that  they  support  their  churches  generously. 
While  only  about  a  third  of  the  population  are  on  the  church  rolls  as 
members,  there  is  little  or  no  antagonism  to  religion  or  to  the  church. 
The  churches  are  sympathetically  regarded. 

The  church  as  an  institution  enjoys  better  than  ordinarily  good  health. 
There  is,  however,  as  yet  no  large  vision  of  a  social  ministry  for  the 
church.  There  is  very  slight  contact  with  the  practical  daily  problems 
of  the  people  and  very  little  attempt  to  serve  them  aside  from  the  usual 
churchly  ministrations.  Denominational  lines  are  still  closely  main- 
tained, in  many  instances  to  the  decided  detriment  both  of  church  and 
people. 

To  the  candid  observer  it  would  seem  that  the  religious  life  of  the 
county  lacks  \'irility.  It  is  one  thing  to  be  sympathetic  toward  the 
church  and  quite  another  thing  to  be  aggressively  religious  in  every  day 
life.  It  is  in  this  lack  of  definite  contact  between  religion  and  life  that 
Montgomery  County  is  weakest.  This  can  be  remedied  best  by  the 
reconstruction  of  church  work  along  such  lines  that  the  churches  which 
are  not  needed  shall  be  eliminated  and  the  churches  that  remain  made 
definite  community  centers,  aiming  to  serve  their  people  in  ever>'thing 
that  effects  their  prosperity  and  w^ell-being. 

The  chart "  Facing  the  Church  Problem  "  (opposite  page)  calls  attention 
to  certain  elements  in  this  condition.  The  church  is  here  showTi  to  be 
weakest  at  the  very  point  at  which  society  is  weakest.  It  is  obvious 
that  there  is  a  great  field  here  in  which  the  church  may  work.  It  has  a 
logical  place  to  fill  in  the  lives  of  these  communities.  It  is  equally 
obvious  that  the  force  is  potentially  adequate  to  the  task,  but  the  churches 
lack  the  machinery  for  their  greatest  work  and  they  lack  also  the  motive 
and  vision. 

SUGGESTIONS   CONCERNING  ECONOMIC  CONDITIONS 

By  the  Hon.  Willet  M.  Hays 

Assistant  Secretary,  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture 

Montgomery  County,  though  one  of  our  oldest  counties,  needs  develop- 
ment along  economic  lines.  The  very  commendable  movement  for  the 
improvement  of  its  several  hundred  miles  of  dirt  road  and  the  macadamiz- 
ing of  its  leading  roads  should  be  encouraged  by  everybody.     It  needs 

102 


FACING  THE 
CHURCH    PROBLEM 

THE  FIELD 

13,146  people  not  in  the  churches. 

6  out  of  13  districts  w///^^/// adequate  social 
organization  for  any  class. 

13  out  of  13  districts  without  adequate 
social  organization  for  the  tenant  and 
labo7ing  classes. 

THE  FORCE 

86  churches  —1  to  every  233  of  the  total 
white  Protestant  population. 

THE  FACTS 

28%  of  the  churches  are  not  growing. 

29%  have  ?io  organizations  of  a?iy  sort 
(except  S.  S.) 

57%  have  no  organizations  for  young 
people. 

94%  have  no  organizations  for  men. 

85%  are  making  no  effort  to  serve  their 
communities  as  social  centres. 


DIAGRAM  NO.  X. 
103 


more  trolley  lines  extending  out  from  Washington,  one  between  the  B.  & 
O.  Railway  and  the  river,  and  more  than  one  in  the  eastern  and  northern 
l)arls  of  the  county. 

Some  areas  of  good  soil  now  slowly  producing  crops  of  timlier  should 
be  converted  into  arable  fields  while  some  abandoned  hillsides  should  be 
reforested.  The  acreage  of  apj^les  and  other  orchard  trees  should  be 
much,  yet  conser\ati\'ely,  extended.  In  many  places  rich  bottom  lands 
and  seepy  hillsides  should  be  tile  drained.  The  farms  should  in  many 
cases  be  somewhat  reorganized  so  as  to  have  rotation  fields  in  definite 
four,  five,  and  six  year  cropping  series.  More  attention  should  be  paid 
to  securing  the  best  available  varieties  of  corn,  wheat,  apples,  and  other 
crops  and  to  making  improvements  through  seed  selection.  Cow  testing 
associations,  cooperative  breeding  of  cattle,  horses,  sheep  and  swine 
should  be  developed  and  the  up-grading  of  live  stock  of  the  county  should 
be  attended  to  with  more  intelligence  and  greater  care.  The  systems 
in  vogue  in  the  best  orchard  regions,  in  culti\ating,  fertilizing  and  spray- 
ing the  orchards,  most  of  which  are  yet  new,  should  be  energetically 
introduced. 

The  farmers  of  the  entire  county  should  follow  the  example  of  the 
farmers  in  the  region  of  Olney  and  Sandy  Spring,  by  organizing  farmers' 
clubs  and  granges  in  the  different  parts  of  the  county,  also  a  district 
country  life  league  in  each  district  and  a  county  federation  with  repre- 
sentatives from  the  \'arious  farmers'  organizations  should  be  es- 
tablished to  consider  the  interests  of  the  oi)en  country  of  the  entire 
county. 

Under  the  leadership  of  the  farmers  the  start  at  consolidating  the  rural 
schools,  as  at  Sandy  Spring,  Brookeville  and  other  places,  with  a  teacher 
of  agriculture  and  a  teacher  of  home  economics  should  be  extended  to 
the  entire  county.  Fifteen  or  twenty  consolidated  rural  school  centres 
would  provide  vital  centres  for  farmers'  social  and  economic  or- 
ganizations as  well  as  for  high  schools  which  teach  farming  and  home 
making.  Such  instruction  in  agriculture  as  that  now  provided  in  the 
Sandy  Spring  and  Brookeville  schools,  if  extended  to  the  entire  county, 
would  rapidly  educate  the  young  generation  to  make  more  of  the  farms 
and  farm  homes  of  the  entire  county.  If  all  the  county  could  be  made 
as  producti\'e  as  are  the  farms  in  the  vicinity  of  Sandy  Spring  and 
Brookeville,  the  total  production  of  the  county  would  be  greatly  increased 
and  a  more  splendid  country  life  developed.  The  plan  of  having  a 
county  farm  bureau  with  an  expert  farm  demonstrator  and  advisor, 
which  is  now  so  rapidly  extending  into  the  counties  of  the  United  States, 
will  be  of  great  benefit  to  Montgomery  County.  Such  an  office  would 
be  of  assistance  in  bringing  about  better  rotation  of  crops,  the  more  in- 
telligent use  of  fertilizers,  the  improvement  of  live  stock,  the  choice  of 

104 


better  varieties  of  field  crops  and  other  plants,  and  in  lietter  methods  of 
cultivation  and  farm  management  generally. 

A  County  Y.  M.  C.  A.  Secretary,  such  as  the  International  Committee 
is  placing  in  many  counties  throughout  the  United  States  would  be  a 
great  aid  in  assisting  the  boys  and  young  men  of  the  county.  Such  an 
officer  could  help  not  only  in  preparing  the  young  people  for  their  church 
life  but  also  in  developing  the  recreational  and  social  life  of  the  entire 
county,  and  would  greatly  reflect  on  production  by  leading  to  better 
farming. 

Many  more  of  the  farm  youths  of  the  county  should  attend  agricultural 
colleges,  mainly  to  return  and  be  the  leading  farmers,  but  in  part  to 
return  and  help  to  build  up  a  system  of  local  and  agricultural  high  schools 
and  country  life  educational,  social,  and  economic  organizations  for  the 
entire  county.  Likewise  many  more  farm  girls  should  attend  schools 
which  prepare  girls  for  the  farm  home,  for  teaching  home  making  in 
the  consolidated  rural  school,  and  for  leadership  in  the  rural  community. 
The  splendid  blood  of  the  white  population  of  Montgomery  County, 
its  good  soil  and  its  superb  market  facilities  present  possibilities  for  a 
wonderful  country  life  community.  If  the  entire  county  could  be  so 
improved  as  to  average  as  well  as  the  best  communities  in  the  eastern 
part  of  the  county,  the  claim  could  be  made  that  Montgomery  County 
is  fast  becoming  the  model  country  life  county  of  the  United  States. 
The  City  of  Washington  and  the  governments  of  the  state  and  of  the 
nation  can  well  afford  to  encourage  both  the  suburban  and  rural  parts 
of  Montgomery  County  to  become  models  as  places  for  family  homes 
for  that  portion  of  the  people  with  best  heredity,  who,  by  multiplying 
more  rapidly  than  the  average  can  dominate  the  blood  of  the  future 
nation.  Montgomery  County  will  continue  to  be  proud  of  the  strong 
people  it  sends  into  the  city  because  upon  its  farms  will  continue  to 
remain  a  portion  of  the  best  blood  of  America.  Its  splendid  home  and 
social  life  are  the  best  agencies  for  building  up  its  system  of  economic 
production.  But  the  homes  need  to  be  better  supplemented  by  the 
consolidated  and  rural  high  schools,  by  more  clubs,  granges,  and  farmers 
district  leagues,  welded  into  a  county  federation  by  a  county  Y.  M.  C.  A., 
a  county  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  and  a  bureau  of  county  farm  experts.  The 
opportunities  for  doing  team  work  and  securing  national  and  state 
recognition  and  help  in  building  up  the  farms,  the  homes  and  country 
life  generally,  are  not  excelled  by  any  county  in  the  country.  Mont- 
gomery county,  like  every  other  county  must  double  its  product,  because 
double  the  nation's  population  must  be  fed,  and  the  above  suggestions 
have  a  large  relation  to  how  to  bring  this  about. 


105 


RECOMMENDATIONS    CONCERNING    EDUCA- 
TIONAL   CONDITIONS 

By  Mr.  A.  C.  Monahan 

Assistant  in  Rural  Education,  Inilecl  States  Bureau  of  Education 

Organization  and  Supervision 

The  management  of  the  schools  of  Montgomery  County,  as  in  all 
Maryland  counties  is  centralized  in  the  hands  of  one  board  of  education. 
Such  a  system  is  known  as  the  ''county  system"  of  organization  and  is 
probably  the  most  efficient  and  economical  of  all  systems  for  rural  schools 
in  the  United  States.  Only  four  other  States  are  so  organized.  Under 
this  system  is  provided  the  best  opportunities  to  promote  the  educational 
interests  of  the  entire  county.  Under  no  other  form  of  organization 
has  such  rapid  development  taken  place  in  rural  school  affairs,  except 
under  the  township  organization  as  found  in  New  England  and  in  a  few 
other  States.  The  township  system,  however,  has  proven  especially 
efficient  only  in  thickly  settled  sections.  Any  system  to  be  effective 
must  have  at  the  head  of  its  school  affairs  a  board  of  education  composed 
of  capable  persons  who  will  perform  their  duties  for  the  best  interests 
of  the  schools  and  the  communities  regardless  of  the  demands  of  poHtical 
party  affiliations.  The  Montgomery  County  board  is  unquestionably 
composed  of  capable  men  and  in  the  management  of  school  affairs  it 
seems  to  be  free  from  political  influence. 

The  school  system  of  the  county  is  weak  in  the  amount  of  supervision 
given  the  teacher  in  her  work  both  in  managing  the  school  and  in  teach- 
ing. Expert  supervision  is  given  by  but  one  person — the  county  super- 
intendent— and  he  must  divide  his  time  between  work  as  an  agent  of 
the  county  board  in  the  management  of  the  school  affairs  of  the  county 
and  as  a  supervisor  of  the  teachers  and  their  work.  The  county  in- 
cludes approximately  521  square  miles  of  territory  with  106  separate 
school  buildings  distributed  quite  evenly  over  the  entire  county.  There 
are  162  teachers.  Under  such  conditions  little  personal  supervision  is 
possible.  The  school  year  is  approximately  180  days  in  length,  the 
school  being  in  session  5>^  hours  per  day,  or  a  total  of  990  hours  in  the 
entire  year.  If  the  county  superintendent  could  spend  this  entire  990 
hours  in  the  schools  while  classes  were  reciting,  he  could  give  but  9 
hours  to  each  building  during  the  entire  year  and  but  6  hours  to  each 
teacher.  In  actual  practice  he  cannot  probably  devote  more  than  one- 
half  of  his  time  to  visiting  schools  and  part  of  this  time  is  consumed  in 
driving  from  one  school  to  another. 

Contrast  this  condition  with  the  amount  of  supervision  in  the  city  of 
Baltimore.     In  1910,  there  were  58  supervisory  officers  devoting  half 

106 


A   VILLAGE   HIGH   SCHOOL 


or  more  than  half  of  their  time  to  supervising  the  work  of  the  1,778 
teachers  employed.  And  the  city  was  criticised  in  "The  Report  of  the 
Commission  Appointed  to  Study  the  System  of  Education  in  the  Public 
Schools  of  Baltimore"  because  the  supervision  was  considered  by  the 
experts  who  made  the  study,  inadequate  in  amount!  Baltimore  had 
but  one  such  supervisor  for  every  32  teachers  while  the  average  for  the 
18  largest  cities  in  the  United  States  that  year  was  1  for  every  19  teachers. 
It  is  on  account  of  this  supervision  in  city  systems  that  the  great  pro- 
gress has  been  made  in  city  schools,  and  for  the  lack  of  it  that  the  country 
schools  have  failed  to  keep  pace.  In  every  business  enterprise  but 
public  education  it  is  recognized  that  to  obtain  the  best  results  super- 
vision from  bottom  to  top  is  essential. 

With  the  present  number  and  distribution  of  schools  Montgomery 
County  should  employ  at  least  3  assistant  superintendents  who  would 
devote  their  entire  time  to  supervising  the  work  of  the  teachers.  This 
would  give  1  to  every  35  schools,  or  1  to  every  54  teachers.  The  amount 
of  supervision  would  still  be  inadequate  but  would  be  a  vast  improvement 
over  the  present  amount.  These  assistants  should  be  under  the  direct 
authority  of  the  county  superintendent.  Each  should  be  assigned  a 
definite  part  of  the  county  so  that  they  would  come  to  know  their  schools 
and  their  patrons,  and  could  acquire  close,  definite  information  relative 

107 


to  thrir  district  not  only  as  regards  educational  aflairs,  but  all  interests 
of  the  community.  It  is  only  when  in  possession  of  such  knowledge 
that  it  is  possible  for  the  supervisors  to  so  direct  the  schools  and  their 
work  that  they  would  fill  more  nearly  the  place  which  the  country  schools 
should  occupy  in  their  communities. 

The  Course  of  Study 

The  curriculum  of  the  schools  of  Montgomery  County  includes  little 
but  the  common  branches  which  have  been  taught  in  country  and  city 
schools  for  the  past  decade.  A  readjustment  is  desirable  so  that  the 
studies  pursued  would  he  more  closely  correlated  with  the  life  and  in- 
terests of  the  community.  More  time  and  attention  should  be  given 
to  instruction  in  elementary  agriculture,  domestic  science,  manual 
training,  music  and  drawing,  and  the  common  branches  should  be  taught 
in  terms  of  these  subjects.  It  is  realized,  of  course,  that  the  ordinary 
country  teacher  herself  can  not  do  much  to  bring  about  this  readjustment 
on  account  of  lack  of  training  and  lack  of  information  relative  to  how  the 
readjustment  may  be  effected.  The  county  superintendent  alone,  with 
the  manifold  duties  thrust  upon  him,  can  do  but  little.  Such  read- 
justment and  redirection  of  the  work  of  the  schools  can  be  accomplished 
satisfactorily  only  by  a  county  superintendent  assisted  by  several  super- 
vising officers  working  under  his  authority  and  direction  who  can  direct 
and  aid  the  teachers  in  the  introduction  of  work  in  these  newer  subjects 
and  in  establishing  the  proper  balance  and  relationship  between  them 
and  the  older  subjects.  The  problem  is  greater  than  the  mere  addition 
of  new  studies  to  the  curriculum.  Under  present  conditions  the  average 
teacher  in  the  one-teacher  country  school  conducts  about  26  recitations 
per  day  of  approximately  12  minutes  in  length.  There  is_no  time  for 
additional  classes.  The  newer  subjects  must  be  taught  by  means  of  and 
through  other  subjects  already  in  the  curriculum  in  place  of  useless 
portions  now  included.  Such  being  the  case,  the  necessity  of  expert 
supervision  is  made  all  the  greater. 

Number  of  Schools 

The  number  of  schools  contained  in  the  county  from  the  standpoint 
of  efficiency  and  economy  is  too  great.  There  are  69  elementary  schools 
for  white  children  or  one  for  every  7}4  square  miles  of  territory.  This 
means  that  if  the  schools  were  symmetrically  distributed  no  part  of  the 
county  would  be  more  than  2  miles  from  a  school,  90%  of  the  territory 
would  be  within  1}4  miles  and  42%  within  1  mile.  If  the  number  of 
schools  for  white  children  should  be  decreased  to  35,  there  would  be  one 
school  for  every  15  square  miles.  If  the  schools  should  be  located  at  the 
centre  of  squares  15  square  miles  in  area,  or  less  than  4  miles  on  a  side, 

lOS 


DOMESTIC   SCIENCE   LABORATORY   OF   THE   BROOKEVILLE   HIGH   SCHOOL 


one-fifth  of  the  territory  would  be  within  1  mile  of  the  school,  four-fifths 
within  2  miles,  and  the  furthest  point  would  be  but  2.8  miles  from  the 
building.  By  a  proper  arrangement  taking  into  consideration  the  geo- 
graphical features  of  the  country  and  the  location  of  the  population, 
the  35  schools  could  be  so  placed  that  approximately  95%  of  the  school 
children  would  live  within  2  miles  of  a  school  and  at  least  60%  within  1 
mile.  Under  such  conditions  transportation  at  public  expense  would  be 
necessary  only  on  exceptional  days,  as  the  children  would  be  within 
walking  distance.  While  it  might  not  be  possible  to  extend  the  area 
for  each  school  to  15  square  miles,  there  are  many  sections  where  con- 
solidation with  transportation  of  pupils  at  public  expense  is  entirely 
practicable  and  where  the  school  might  ser\'e  an  area  of  25  square  miles. 
Decreasing  the  number  of  schools  would  not  lessen  the  number  of 
teachers  in  the  county  to  any  great  extent  as  the  number  of  pupils  to 
each  teacher  under  present  conditions  is  high.  It  would,  however, 
increase  the  size  of  each  school  to  two  or  three  teacher  schools  with 
enough  pupils  to  permit  a  classification  in  such  a  way  that  the  efficiency 
of  the  teaching  would  be  doubled  or  trebled.  It  would  allow  also 
adequate  expert  supervision  at  a  comparati\'ely  small  cost  and  would 
decrease  the  cost  of  maintenance  appreciably.  It  would  mean  a  much 
more  efficient  school  service  at  about  the  present  outlay. 
.  On  the  whole  the  white  schools  of  Montgomery  County  may  be  said 
to  rank  high  in  the  excellency  of  their  work  in  comparison  with  other 
county  systems.  The  same  may  be  said  about  the  negro  schools, 
although  they  are  relatively  inefficient  as  compared  to  the  white  schools 
of  the  county,  and  are  poorly  housed,  equipped,  and  supported.     It  is 

109 


probably  true  that  the  county  is  expending  upon  the  negro  schools  an 
amount  as  great  as  is  paid  by  the  negro  population  in  direct  taxes.  It 
is  becoming  a  recognized  principle  of  economy  however,  that  the  re- 
sponsibility of  a  city,  county,  or  state  to  its  people  or  to  any  part  of  them 
for  the  best  interests  of  all  the  people  in  the  political  unit  can  not  be 
measured  in  terms  of  the  direct  taxes  paid. 

The  criticism  made  relative  to  the  lack  on  supervision  and  to  the  over- 
abundance of  small  schools  would  apply  equally  as  well  to  the  larger 
number  of  counties  in  the  majority  of  states  in  the  Union.  From  the 
2,000  inquiries  made  during  the  recent  survey  of  the  county  a  general 
appreciation  of  these  two  needs  seems  to  exist. 

GENERAL   RECOMMENDATIONS 

In  closing  this  sur\Ty  of  Montgomery  County  it  is  fitting  that  we 
state,  in  a  few  strong  paragraphs,  what  are  the  main  needs  of  the  county 
as  a  whole.  It  is  not  a  needy  county,  as  compared  with  others.  Its 
resources  are  many;  and  its  situation  so  near  to  a  market — so  near  also 
to  one  of  the  great  capitals  of  intellectual  life  in  the  world,  the  city 
of  Washington,  puts  the  county  in  a  favored  relation  to  many  others 
throughout  the  country.  But  it  is  a  very  representative  cpunty  for  all 
that.  The  weaknesses  which  rob  the  American  farmer  of  his  best  in- 
heritance are  all  here.  The  new  order  of  rural  life  has  not  come,  to 
most  of  the  county.  A  rural  civilization  is  not  there  so  strong  as  to 
resist  that  of  the  city. 

First,  there  is  need  of  organized  cooperation  among  farmers.  The 
business  of  the  farmer  is  done  too  much  by  the  city  man,  or  by  business 
men  who  thrive  on  the  farmers'  inattention  to  their  own  affairs.  There 
should  be  cooperative  banks  or  trust  comjianies  at  which  a  farmer  might 
borrow  money  at  less  than  four  per  cent.  These  will  come  only  when 
farmers  organize  on  the  cooperative  principle,  for  the  purpose  of  placing 
their  own  security  on  the  market.  Capital  is  willing  to  go  into  the 
country  at  three  and  a  half  per-cent.  but  the  farmer  must  handle  his 
own  banking,  in  order  to  secure  for  himself  and  other  farmers  this  ad- 
vantage. The  Reiffeissen  Bank  system  is  commended  for  study  by 
farmers,  as  a  good  model  of  the  farmers'  bank. 

When  such  low  rates  of  interest  are  secured,  as  the  security  offered 
in  farm  land  will  justify,  then  the  farmer's  son  will  be  able  to  buy  a 
farm  in  the  county,  and  the  community  will  not  lose  its  own  best 
blood,  by  reason  of  the  impossibility  of  buying  farms. 

The  same  ])rinciple  applies  to  the  manufacture  of  farm  products. 
This  should  be  in  the  hands  of  farmers.  Milk  should  in  every  community 
be  made  into  butter,  so  far  as  is  of  advantage.  The  remainder  should 
be  sold  to  the  city  buyers.     This  can  only  be  done  by  combinations  of 

110 


farmers.  The  cooperative  principle  is  the  right  one  for  this  purpose. 
Farmers  do  not  work  well  together  in  joint  stock  companies,  but  they 
do  cooperate  well,  in  associations  in  which  the  votes  are  man-votes,  not 
share-votes.  The  farmers  of  the  county  ought  to  undertake  with 
thoroughness  the  study  of  cooperation,  and,  not  content  with  anything 
less  than  economic  combination,  they  ought  to  organize  in  the  vital 
processes  by  which  they  get  their  living.  Only  thus  can  they  keep 
their  income  high  enough  to  be  satisfactory.  And  if  it  is  not  satisfactory, 
the  country  will  lose  and  the  city  will  gain,  to  the  advantage  of  no  one. 

Second,  the  negroes  of  the  county  are  the  least  satisfactory  section 
of  the  population.  It  may  be  assumed  that  they  will  be  a  permanent 
part  of  the  county's  people,  for  decades  to  come.  The  trouble  seems  to 
be  that  the  negroes  are  not  able  to  "go  it  alone."  They  are  in  need  of 
the  collective  attention  of  the  white  people  of  the  county.  Their  schools 
should  be  reconstructed,  on  the  principle  of  teaching  them  to  work. 
Better  buildings  and  adequate  equipment  should  be  provided  for  this 
purpose.  A  clear  determination  of  the  authorities  of  the  county  to  use 
the  schools  for  industrial  training  of  the  negro  children  would  advance 
the  whole  problem  a  long  way. 

The  state  of  the  negroes  has  a  very  direct  effect  upon  the  economic 
and  on  the  moral  welfare  of  the  whites.  In  planning  therefore,  for  the 
prosperity  and  for  the  general  good  of  the  county,  the  people  of  the 
county  ought  to  devote  energetic  attention  to  the  industrial  betterment 
of  the  Negro.  He  may  be  compared  to  a  man  morally  and  economically 
sick.  The  hospital  for  his  disease  is  a  school  where  he  will  learn  in  early 
years  to  work.     It  pays  to  put  money  into  such  a  hospital. 


UNDEVELOPED  RESOURCES 
111 


Our  third  recomniendation  is  as  to  the  churches.  It  is  to  the  effect 
that  there  are  churches  enough.  The  county  is  more  than  adequately 
churched.  Let  us  not  rejoice  at  the  organization  of  any  more,  but 
rather  let  us  turn  to  the  improvement  and  furnishing  of  these  we  have. 
The  Survey  shows  that  they  are  very  inadequately  equipped  for  their 
work.  They  need  Sunday-school  rooms,  a  class-room  for  each  great 
division  of  the  members  of  the  congregation,  who  may  be  taught,  and 
need  to  be  taught,  the  message  and  the  truths  of  the  Bible.  The  one- 
cell  church  should  be  built  into  a  beehive  of  religious  work.  Not  only 
preaching,  but  teaching  and  social  meeting  and  dinners  and  Farmers' 
Clubs,  and  Organized  Bible  Classes  have  need  of  a  place  in  the  church, 
that  they  can  call  their  own.  Every  interest  of  the  community,  indeed, 
ought  to  have  a  welcome  in  the  church  building,  that  it  may  there  be 
tested  and  discussed  in  the  spirit  of  the  Master,  and  shaped  to  be  a 
part  of  his  Kingdom. 

Especially  is  there  need  of  a  policy  of  recreation  among  the  churches, 
that  is  larger  than  the  present  petty  chaffering  of  sales  and  suppers,  for 
the  funds  of  the  Ladies'  Societies.  The  women  of  the  churches  are 
doing  well,  against  all  opposition,  but  they  have  little  except  opposition 
from  the  men  of  the  churches. 

Two  motives  impel  the  churches  to  take  a  hand  in  the  recreation  of 
the  community.  It  will  help  in  solving  the  labor  problem.  For  the 
farm  laborer  goes  to  the  city  too  often  simply  because  he  has  no  social 
enjoyment  in  the  country.  Moreover,  it  will  do  more  to  solve  the  pro- 
blem of  rural  morality  than  any  other  measure  that  can  be  taken.  The 
godly  people  of  the  community  see  this  for  their  own  children.  They 
take  charge  of  their  play,  in  order  to  control  their  moral  training.  They 
would  find  that  all  the  children  of  the  community  will  respond  in  the 
same  way.  Supervised  and  well  provided  recreation  will  do  more 
for  training  the  citizens  of  the  future  than  any  other  effort  or  ex- 
penditure. 

Our  fourth  and  final  recommendation  has  to  do  with  community 
organization.  Attention  has  been  called  to  the  over-multiplication  of 
schools  and  churches,  a  condition  which  offends  against  both  economy 
and  eflficiency.  In  general  the  survey  has  made  it  abundantly  clear  that 
in  almost  every  community  in  the  county  there  is  a  distinct  lack  of  con- 
centration of  interests  and  activities.  With  one  exception  there  is  no 
community  in  the  county  which  has  developed  for  itself  any  very  exten- 
sive o])})ortunities  of  concerted  action.  A  community  should  possess 
individuality,  a  sense  of  its  own  unity.  At  almost  every  point  country 
life  is  too  diffuse.  Its  energies  are  scattered  and  consequently  fail  of 
their  most  advantageous  use.  In  the  finest  meaning  of  the  term  a  com- 
munity is  not  a  casual  association  of  a  number  of  people  about  a  school 

112 


and  a  church  and  a  store  and  a  home  and  a  public  road.  It  is  a  unified 
group  building  for  itself  these  various  institutions  in  the  spirit  and 
practice  of  cooperation. 

In  this  county  the  country  communities  are  not  individual;  they  are 
distinctly  dividual.  They  come  apart  into  well-defined  sections,  cor- 
responding to  their  various  activities.  There  are  unfortunate  and 
artificial  divisions  between  educational,  religious,  commercial  and  social 
activities,  and  between  parts  or  strata  of  the  same  neighborhoods.  In 
fact,  they  are  hardly  communities  at  all — they  are  voting  districts. 

If  a  map  could  be  made  locating  every  church,  school  and  store  with 
a  line  drawn  from  each  home  to  the  particular  church,  school  and  store 
with  which  it  had  connection,  this  lack  of  centralization  would  be  very 
clear.  A  condition  would  be  depicted  which  could  best  be  described  as 
"scrambled."  In  a  community  so  organized  there  is  constant  duplica- 
tion of  effort  along  many  lines  and  the  resultant  waste  is  very  great. 
Prosperity  in  greatest  measure  will  only  come  to  these  communities  when 
each  effort  of  the  scientific  farmer  to  make  many  grains  of  wheat  grow 
where  but  one  grew  before  is  supplemented  by  the  effort  of  the  scientific 
community  builder  to  make  but  one  store,  church  or  school  grow  where 
many  grew  before. 

Our  proposal  is  a  definite  one.  We  will  state  it  as  a  theory,  conscious 
that  local  conditions  will  necessitate  modification  at  various  points  when 
applied  to  a  particular  community.  Montgomery  County  would  divide 
itself  naturally  into  from  twenty  to  twenty-five  communities  within  which 
all  the  people  could  easily  be  grouped  about  some  common  centre. 
There  would  then  be  no  family  in  the  county  more  than  a  few  miles  from 
one  such  point.  Here  all  neighborhood  activities  should  centre.  Here 
there  would  be  a  community  church,  a  community  consolidated  school, 
a  community  store  and  all  needed  community  enterprises.  In  coming 
years  farmers  will  inevitably  adopt  the  principle  of  cooperation  in  their 
banking  and  farm  business.  The  value  of  this  is  becoming  continually 
clearer.  There  should  be  a  common  point  in  each  community  for  the 
carrying  on  of  such  community  efforts.  The  social  and  the  recreational 
life  will  also  centre  here.  If  such  a  diagram  as  we  mentioned  above  were 
then  made,  the  result  would  look  less  like  a  dish  of  spaghetti  and  more 
like  a  circle  with  its  radii  leading  from  every  home  to  the  common  center. 

The  effect  of  this  plan  of  organization  upon  the  working  efficiency  of 
the  community  could  not  help  but  be  tremendous.  There  would  be  a 
gain  in  social  solidarity,  in  compactness  and  simplicity  of  social  machin- 
ery and  in  directness  and  definiteness  of  effort. 

This  is  not  an  impossible  ideal.  In  this  very  county  there  is  one 
community  which  has  developed  this  form  of  organization  beyond  the 
experimental  stage. 

113 


APPENDIX 


TABLE  NO.  1.  — HOW  THE  TOTAL  VALUE  OF  FARM  PROPERTY  IS 

DISTRIBUTED 

Land $12,678,278 

Land  in  1900 9,491,930 

Buildings 5,163,580 

Buildings  in  1900 3,525,170 

Implements  and  machinery 733,843 

Implements  and  machinery  in  1900 576,010 

Domestic  animals,  poultry,  etc 2,282,768 

Domestic  animals,  poultry,  etc.,  in  1900 1,486,558 

Per  Cent,  of  Value  of  all  Property  In: 

Land 60.8 

Buildings _ 24.8 

Implements  and  machinery 3.5 

Domestic  animals,  poultry,  etc 10.9 

Average  Values  (Number  of  all  farms,  2,442): 

All  property  per  farm $8,542 

Land  and  buildings  per  farm 7,306 

Equipment  and  stock 1,236 


TABLE  NO.  2.  — HOW  THE  LAND  IS  HELD.     SIZE  OF  FARMS 


Size  of  Farms 


19  acres  or  less. 
20-49  acres.  .  .  . 
50-99  "  . . . . 
100-174  "  . . . . 
175-259  "  . . . . 
260-499  "  . .  .  . 
500-999  "    . . . . 


Per  Cent,  of 

Per  Cent,  of 

All  Farms 

All  Farms 

Operated  by  Operated  by 

White 

Colored 

Farmers 

Farmers 

17.67% 

69.3% 

13.4% 

16.0% 

18.2% 

6.6% 

24.46% 

5.4% 

13.23%, 

1.7% 

11.61%, 

.9% 

1.33% 

0.0% 

TABLE  NO.  3.  — HOW  THE  LAND  IS  HELD.     KIND  OF  TENURE 

Per  Cent,  of  All  Farms 
Operated  by 

White  Colored 

Owners 68.7%  71.3% 

Owner  and  tenant .1%  .6% 

Part  owner 5.8%  7.4% 

Tenants 21.7%  19.4% 

Unclassified 3.7%  1.3% 


TABLE  NO.  4.  — THE  AGE  OF  FARMERS 

Per  Cent,  of  Per  Cent,  of 

Age                                    Total  Number  Total  Number 
White  Farmers  Colored  Farmers 

24  years  and  less 3.2%  . 6% 

25-34  years 15.8%,  11.5% 

35-44  years 24.3%,  16.1% 

45-54  years 23.6%,  26.2%, 

55-64  years 18.8%  24.7%, 

65  years  and  over 13.6%  21.5% 

I 


TABLE  NO.  5.  — VALUE  OF  LIVE  STOCK  ON  THE  FARMS 
Cattle: 

Total  number 17,872 

Dairy  cows 10,322 

Other  cows 1,014 

Value $573,188 

Horses 10,830 

Value $1,379,313 

Mules 268 

Value $32,291 

Swine 16,633 

Value $119,331 

Sheep 11,529 

Value $55,316 

The  holdings  in  poultry  and  bees  were  reported  as  follows: 

Number  of  poultry  of  all  kinds 172,321 

Value ^112,901 

Number  of  colonies  of  bees 1,865 

Value $6,349 


TABLE  NO.  6.  — YIELD  AND  ACREAGE  OF  PRINCIPAL  CROPS 


Crop 


Corn 

Oats 

Wheat 

Rye 

Potatoes 

Tobacco 

Hay  and  forage. 


Acres 

Yield 

39,278 

1,380,249  bushels 

1,169 

22,276       " 

45,112 

769,289       " 

3,549 

40,661       " 

2,398 

193,783       " 

587 

534,314    lbs. 

25,906 

30,094    tons 

TABLE  NO.  7.  — FARM  EXPENSES 

Labor Farms  reporting 1,707 

Cash  expended $476,863 

Rent  and  board  furnished 175,632 

Feed Farms  reporting 1,169 

Amount  expended $159,082 

Fertilizer Farms  reporting 1,781 

Amount  expended $221,306 


TABLE  NO.  8.— DISTRIBUTION  OF  PUBLIC  ROADS 


District 


Macadamized  and 
Ordinary  Pikes 
State    County  Turnpikes  Total 
Built       Built     Toll-road    ~ 


Laytonsville 3 

Olney 1 

Damascus 

Clarksburg 4 

Gaithersburg 

Darnestown 

Barnesville 

Poolesville 

Rockville 

Potomac 

Bethesda 

Colesville 


.80 
.295 

.875 
.735 
3.00 


4.67 


Wheaton. 


.435 
1.83 

.'33' 
2.435 

4^59' 
2.45 
7.65 
4.50 
12.57 
8.50 


9 


75 


375 


1.295       9.83       14.125     25.25 


99.04 


5  Total 

Grand 

Stone 

Dirt 

Total 

4.235 

56.55 

60.55 

12.875 

61.875 

74.75 

60.50 

60.50 

5.205 

65.795 

71.00 

3.17 

51.29 

58.58 

3.00 

59.25 

62.25 

4.59 

57.45 

62.00 

2.45 

76.30 

78.75 

12.32 

50.43 

62.75 

4.50 

44.75 

49.25 

12.57 

37.18 

49.75 

8.875 

45.375 

54.25 

25.25 

60.25 

85.50 

829.88 


II 


TABLE  NO.  15.  — CLASSIFICATION  OF  SECRET  FRATERNAL 
ORGANIZATIONS  BY  DISTRICTS 

Total 

Districl                                             Number  Member- 

of  Lodges  ship 

Laytonsville 1  60 

Clarksburg 2  90 

Poolesville 2  55 

Rockville 3  247 

Colesville 3  172 

Darnestown 1  25 

Bethesda 2  80 

Olney 3  128 

Gaithersburg 5  402 

Potomac 1  [58 

Barnesville 

Wheaton 1  82 

Damascus 5  345 

Totals 29  1,744 

TABLE  NO.    16.  — CLASSIFICATION  OF  OPEN  FRATERNAL 
ORGANIZATIONS  BY  KIND 

Number  of       Total  Average 

Kind  of  Organization                               Local         Member-  Attend- 

Organizations        ship  ance 

Farmers'  Clubs 2                  28  50 

Card  Clubs 4                  84  71 

Social 4                 100  80 

Literary 5                  99  70 

Temperance 1                   40  35 

Scientific 4                   48  35 

Book 1  25 

Mutual  Improvement 5                 139  90 

Citizens'  Improvement 8                 237  114 

Athletic    Association 3 

Others 3                 169  25* 

Total 40                969  580 


♦IncUidiiiK  1  without  stated  nieetinRS. 


V 


TABLE  NO.    17.  — CLASSIFICATION  OF  OPEN  FRATERNAL 
ORGANIZATIONS  BY  DISTRICTS 

Number  of        Total  Average 

District  Local  Member-  Attend- 

Organizations      ship  ance 

Laytonsville 4  79  58* 

Clarksburg 

Poolesville 3  52  40 

Rockvllle 4  202  43t 

Colesville 2  54  60 

Darnestown 1  18  12 

Bethesda 8  238  109 

Olney 2  33  36 

Gaithersburg 2| 

Potomac 

Barnesville 

Wheaton 15  295  217 

Damascus 

Totals 40  969  580 

It  is  recognized  that  societies  of  this  sort  are  often  very  evanescent.  This  is  especially  true  of 
card  clubs  and  social  clubs;  they  come,  flourish  for  a  while  and  then  vanish.  Traces  were  found 
of  crockinole  clubs,  flinch  clubs  and  other  similar  clubs  which  had  prospered  in  their  day,  but 
were  now  defunct.  Consequently,  it  is  almost  unavoidable  that  such  a  list  as  is  given  above  should 
err  either  in  omission  or  inclusion.     However,  it  is  considered  reasonably  correct  and  complete. 


TABLE  NO.  18.  — ENROLLMENT  OF  WHITE  SCHOOLS  BY  GRADES- 
WINTER  TERM,  1911-1912 


(In  Schools  Without   High  School  Work:) 

Grade  1 829 

Grade  2 429 

Grade  3 514 

Grade  4 541 

High  school,  all  grades 269 


Grade  5 461 

Grade  6 403 

Grade  7 296 

Grade  8 40 


TABLE  NO.  19.  —  ENROLLMENT  OF  COLORED  SCHOOLS  BY  GRADES- 
WINTER  TERM,   1911-1912 


Grade  1 804 

Grade  2 2.54 

Grade  3 303 

Grade  4 223 


Grade  5 112 

Grade  6 39 

Grade  7 9 


TABLE    NO.  20  — THE   TEACHING    OF    SPECIAL   SUBJECTS   IN  THE 

WHITE  SCHOOLS 

Not  At  All       Little  Medium  Much 

Nature  study 48                 20  4  4 

Elementary  agriculture 57                  13  4  2 

Domestic  science 68                   4  0  4 

Manual  training 71                    1  3  1 

Music 52                  19  4  1 

Drawing 50                  22  4  0 

The  figures  refer  to  the  number  of  schools  in  which  these  studies  are  taught 


TABLE   NO.  21.  — THE   TEACHING   OF   SPECIAL   SUBJECTS   IN   THE 
COLORED  SCHOOLS 

Not  At  All       Little        Medium  Much 

Nature  study 20 

Elementary  agriculture 24 

Domestic  science 21 

Manual  training 19 

Music 13 

Drawing 12 

(The  figures  refer  to  the  number  of  schools.) 


♦Including  1  without  stated  meetings, 
t  Including  2  without  stated  meetings, 
i  Without  definite  membership  or  stated  meetings. 

VI 


8 

2 

0 

4 

2 

0 

7 

2 

0 

8 

2 

1 

14 

3 

0 

18 

0 

0 

Illllllllllllllll 

1    1012  01235  2870     ' 

TABLE  NO.  22.  — HOW  $1  OF  THE  SCHOOL'S  MONEY  IS  SPENT 

Teacliers'  salaries .52  (i  cents 

New  biiikiings,  repairs,  furniture 19. 7 

Indebtedness  and  interest 6.5     " 

Books  and  stationery 5.2 

Rent,  fuel,  incidental  and  sanitary  expenses 5.1     " 

Supervision  and  office  expenses 2.8 

Miscellaneous  expenses 8. 1 

100  <) 

TABLE  NO.  23.  — THE  ITEMS  OF  EXPENSE  IN  SCHOOL  BUDGET 

White  Schools: 

Apparatus,  new  buildings  and  repairs $23,270.55 

Fuel,  sanitary  and  incidental  expenses 5,220.25 

Teachers'  salaries 50,381 .64 


Total $99,771 .  .59 

Colored  Schools: 

Teachers'  salaries |.5,852 .  09 

Repairs,  fuel  and  incidental  expenses 2,595 .  39 

Total $8,448.08 

TABLE  NO.  24.  — WHERE  $1  OF  SCHOOL'S  MONEY  COMES  FROM 

County  school  tax 39 . 4  cents 

State  school  tax 22. 3 

Free  school  fund  and  academic  fund 2.9     " 

Free  book  fund 3.4 

Colored  industrial  fund 1.2 

High  school  fund 5.4 

Loans 24. 0     ;| 

Other  sources 1.4 


100.0 


TABLE  NO.  25.  — DENOMINATIONAL  STRENGTH 


Pres.  U.  S.  I 

M.  E 

Prot.  Epis.  . 

Baptist 

M.  E.  S 

M.  P 

Pres.  U.  S.  . 
7th  D.  Adv. 

Friends 

Xn 

Luth 

F.  M 

Prim.  Bapt. 

Xn.  So 

Cath 


Churches 

Build- 

Ministers 

Membership  Value  of 

mgs 

Property 

9 

8 

6 

815            $67,500 

17 

16 

6 

1,346              45,000 

16 

16 

11 

1,043            106,400 

8 

8 

2 

570              36.309 

17 

,  17 

7 

1,769              65.348 

4 

4 

2 

372               10,400 

2 

2 

1 

113               16,300 

2 

1 

0 

406              

2 

2 

0 

291                 6,500 

2 

2 

1 

80                9,000 

1 

1 

1 

40                3.000 

2 

2 

1 

79                 1,000 

3 

3 

2 

63                3,500 

1 

0 

0 

7             

9 

9 

5 

2,707              

Colored 

Churches 

7 

7 

4 

209                 2,660 

24 

23 

9 

1,467              28,700 

9 

7 

5 

305                5,900 

Baptist 

M.  E 

A.  M.  E 

TABLE  NO.  26.  —THE  COST  OF  THE  CHURCH  AND  THE  COST  OF  THE 

SCHOOL 

Protestant  White  Churches  and  Schools: 

Total  amount  invested  in  property 

Interest  on  this  investment  at  6% 

Total  cost  of  maintenance 

Total  number  days  in  use  per  year — aggregate 

Actual  cost  per  day  in  use,  per  church  or  school 

Cost  per  day — rent  equivalent  of  interest  on  property. . . 

Total  cost  per  day  in  use,  per  church  or  school 

Colored  Churches  and  Schools: 

Total  amount  invested  in  property 

Interest  on  this  investment  at  (>% 

Total  cost  of  maintenance 

Total  number  days  in  use  per  year — aggregate 

Actual  cost  per  day  in  use,  per  church  or  school 

Cost  per  day — rent  equivalent  of  interest  on  property. 

Total  cost  per  day  in  use,  per  church  or  school 


Churches 

Schools 

5364,757.00 

$155,0,50.00 

21.885.42 

9,303.00 

06.245 .  00* 

10(>.940 .  67 

4,216  days 

14,288  days 

15.71 

7.48 

5.19 

.67 

20.90 

8.15 

$37,260.00 

$10,7.50.00 

2,235.60 

645.00 

8.1,50.00* 

11,393.62 

1,875  days 

4,200  days 

4.35 

2.71 

1.19 

.15 

5.54 

2.86 

♦Benevolences  excl. 

VII 


Redfield  Brothers.   Inc 
New  York 


